Even if you don’t think you know opera, trust me: You know Carmen. It’s like the “Hallelujah Chorus” or “Ride of the Valkyries,” classical songs that worm their way into the cultural subconscious.

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When Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” debuted in Paris at the Opéra Comique in 1875 it was cause for scandal. Critics panned it. Audiences, expecting the family fare typical of the venue, were shocked by its ...

You’ve heard the music of the opera “Carmen” on “Sesame Street” and in commercials, but that’s not why it’s been called opera’s guilty pleasure. Even the critics who panned Bizet’s opera at its ...

An opera in four acts, the story of Carmen is taken from Prosper Mérimée’s novella and turned into a libretto written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Premiered in 1875 at the Opéra-Comique in ...