Credits:

John Eliot Gardiner

Description:

Antonacci, Gardiner, and Nobles *Carmen*: A Return to the Original Form of This Masterpiece Opera*Carmen* is a masterpiece that epitomizes French opera. When it premiered at the Opra-Comique in Paris in 1875, its raw depiction of the lower classes and its tragic ending shocked the audience and the production was panned; shortly thereafter, a disheartened Bizet passed away at the young age of 36. However, thanks to its accessible yet dramatically powerful musicand the success of its adaptation into the grand opera style by Bizets friend Giraudthis work has since become one of the most popular operas performed worldwide.This video is a valuable recording of a performance staged in June 2009 on the initiative of the Opra-Comique in Paristhe venue of *Carmen*s premiereas an attempt to explore the original form of *Carmen* as an *opra-comique* (a sung play with spoken dialogue), as conceived