Although almost unanimously condemned by contemporary Parisian critics for its overt sexuality and graphic final scene, Carmen ultimately reached the public in a way that perhaps no other opera has. Bizet's aim (with Meilhac and Halevy, who wrote the libretto) had been to transform the flaccid, moralistic bourgeois genre of opéra comique into a more sophisticated type of staged work, and he seems to have suceeded in Carmen. Each character has a musical significance and a unique expressive idiom, the ultimate example being the dangerous, exotic, sensual Carmen herself, depicted by an exotic and sinewy chromatic motive that also implies the insurmountable power of fate. In a classic plot device, she is contrasted with the 'good girl' of the opera Micaela, whose main aria is set in the ternary form of the elevated bel canto French Grand Opera aria to imply her traditionally 'ladylike' retiring nature. Don José's musical styles reflect different levels in his descent from dutiful soldier to the underworld of obsession.
Sur La Place (Bizet-Carmen)
Avec La Garde Montante (Bizet-Carmen)
La Cloche A Sonne (Bizet-Carmen)
Parle-Moi De Ma Mere (Bizet-Carmen)
Que Se Passe-T-Il (Bizet-Carmen)
Voici L'Ordre Partez (Bizet-Carmen)
Les Tringles Des Sistres (Bizet-Carmen)
Vivat! Vivat! Le Torero! (Bizet-Carmen)
Nous Avons En Tete (Bizet-Carmen)
Haltela! Qui Vala? (Bizet-Carmen)
Je Vais Danser (Bizet-Carmen)
Hola! Carmen! (Bizet-Carmen)
Ecoute, Compagnon (Bizet-Carmen)
Melons, Coupons (Bizet-Carmen)
Quant Au Douanier (Bizet-Carmen)
C'Est Des Contrebandiers (Bizet-Carmen)
Je Suis Escamillo (Bizet-Carmen)
Hola, Hola Jose! (Bizet-Carmen)
A Deux Cuartos (Bizet-Carmen)
Les Voici! (Bizet-Carmen)
C'Est Toi! (Bizet-Carmen)
L'Amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle (Habanera)
Pres Des Ramparts De Seville (Seguidilla)
Votre Toast, Je Peux (Toreador Song)