Did Georges Bizet plagiarize? Literary source "carmen" bizet Alternative crossword puzzle questions for the word carmen.

Did Georges Bizet plagiarize?

Vladimir Krasner

Edited by Irina Efedova

On March 3, 1875, the Paris Opera Comique gave the premiere performance of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. The audience waited with bated breath for the first sounds of the Overture. And she waited. The overture and all the music of the opera were beautiful, but the whimsical, spoiled and hypocritical Parisian public was “offended” in their “best” feelings. After all, it was not noblemen or luxuriously dressed ladies who shone on the stage... Together with the Spanish gypsy Carmen, new heroes appeared on the opera stage: people from the people, soldiers, workers, smugglers. The audience was outraged by the “immorality” of the heroine... The jaded bourgeois, ordinary visitors to the boxes and stalls, found the plot of the opera obscene, and the music too serious and complex.

Criticism sanctimoniously expressed particular dissatisfaction with what was happening.

Newspapers competed in the scathing critical reviews of the opera Carmen.Here is just one example of an article from those days:

“Reverend fathers of the family! With faith in tradition, you brought your daughters and wives to provide them with a decent, dignified evening's entertainment. What did you feel at the sight of this prostitute who moves from the arms of a mule driver to a dragoon, from a dragoon to a bullfighter, until the dagger of a deserted lover ends her shameful life...???”

But, as often happens, it was precisely such reviews that created Carmen enormous popularity, and at least fifty performances took place on the stage of the Paris Opera-Comique alone, during the premiere season. Nevertheless, Carmen disappeared from the Parisian stage for a long time and was resumed in the French capital only in 1883 in the editorial office Ernesta Giro . To a large extent, the triumphant march of the opera “Carmen” through the cities contributed to the return of opera to the Parisian stage. Europe , Russia And America. Also in 1880 Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote:

“Bizet’s opera is a masterpiece; one of those few things that are destined to reflect to the greatest extent the musical aspirations of an entire era. In ten years there will be Carmen the most popular opera in the world...»

Tchaikovsky's words turned out to be prophetic. The opera "Carmen" is still one of the most popular theatrical performances.

J. Bizet's opera "Carmen" was written on a libretto by Henry Méillac (sometimes the spelling is found Henri Meliac) and Louis Halévybased on the novella of the same name by Prosper Merimee. Strong, proud, passionate Carmen Bizet - free interpretation literary source, quite far from the heroine Merimee. The collision of Carmen and José acquired warmth and lyricism in Bizet’s music, losing its fundamental insolubility for the writer. The librettists removed a number of circumstances from Carmen's biography that weakened the image (for example, participation in murder).

Here I simply have to remind the inquisitive reader that Prosper Merimee idolized Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. It was he, Merimee, who was the first to translate A.S.’s poem into French. Pushkin “Gypsies” (1824).

It would be a mistake to assume that the plot of “Carmen” is to some extent similar to the plot of Pushkin’s “Gypsies.” But there is no doubt, - P. Merimee admitted this, - the characters of Pushkin’s gypsies, the spirit of the gypsy camp, described by the Russian poet, made a strong impression on the great Frenchman. Yes andcollision of Pushkin's "Gypsies" - the love of a gypsy for"stranger", her treason, the murder of a gypsy woman by a “stranger” - all this is Merimee came in handy.

And it’s absolutely charming and very curious that the libretto of “Carmen” uses the song “Old Husband, Terrible Husband” from Pushkin’s poem. In Bizet’s opera, it’s as if there was a meeting between the heroine Merimee and Pushkin’s Zemfira.

And now, about the most interesting part!!! Do not miss!!!

Perhaps it will be new even for musicians!

Bizet worked on the opera with gusto. The maestro unexpectedly “stumbled” when he had to write Carmen’s verses. These couplets were very important for the opera. After all, they have O It was false to reflect the character of the main character. In these couplets Carmen must declare, what does love mean to her? ! This melody had to be bright, “sparkling”. Of course, the verses had to sound burning Spanish motifs. (Let's not forget, Carmen - Spanish Gypsy). Bizet takes on this musical theme once, twice, and... he doesn’t succeed at all.

Just at those very hours when the composer was close to despair, he heard a song. Her neighbor Bizet, the beauty Mademoiselle Mogador, sang ( La Mogador ). The charming girl sang How it seemed Bizet, - “burning love melodies.” Why did it “seem”? Why was Georges not entirely sure of this in the first moments? The composer did not understand a single word from the song, because the neighbor was singing in Spanish . “Yes, yes, of course, this is a song about passionate, fatal love,” the Maestro became more and more convinced with each new bar.

“This is exactly how my Carmen should sing her verses!” The composer raved about such a melody for the fatal gypsy during sleepless nights! "Yes, definitely my Carmen should sing this song!!! ».

Disregarding all rules of decency, Bizet burst into his neighbor’s apartment: “What were you singing just now?!?”

“Doesn’t the Maestro know?” Mademoiselle Mogador answered coquettishly. “This song is very popular in Paris these days... It’s Spanish folk song "Engagement", in Spanish El Arreglito."

“Spanish folk...,” Georges said out loud. “...Are you sure that the song is folk?” Bizet continued.

“It's true, monsieur! This is as true as the fact that you just broke into my apartment without knocking!” the young woman said, bursting into laughter.

Muttering incomprehensible apologies, Georges ran to his room and immediately wrote down the melody of this song on sheets of music.

We must pay tribute to the great French compositor Georges Bizet. He made a herculean effort to orchestrate this song; so that the gypsy woman’s couplets would organically “weave into the fabric” of his, Bizet’s, music.

According to wonderful musicians who know the opera “Carmen” and the song well El Arreglito, - Bizet's arrangement is amazing!

It is interesting that the text of Carmen's couplets was written not by librettists, but by the composer himself. Naturally, in French, - like the rest of the libretto. It is also interesting that this text, although different from the poems of “Engagement,” still “echoes” them in many ways.

As a result, Georges Bizet's opera was enriched masterpiece- famous Habanera - “ L" amour est un oiseau rebelle ”(“Love is like a bird’s wings...”).

After the premiere performance, musician friends approached the composer and congratulated him on his brilliant success (they, unlike the cutesy public and corrupt critics, immediately and duly appreciated Bizet’s creation! They, the musician friends, pointed out to him that at the core him, Bizet, Habanera not a folk song at all!

“This song was written by a Spanish composer...”

Early in the morning of March 4, 1875 - the day after the premiere - Georges Bizet rushed to the building of the National French Library...

The gray-haired librarian politely placed in front of the composer a book published in Paris in 1864 Musical Collection from 25 selected songs by composer Sebastian Iradier ( Sebastian Iradier ) "Flowers of Spain" ( Fleurs d'Espagne ), in which Bizet easily found the play El Arreglito (Engagement)...

“Yes, my neighbor has a very good ear... On that memorable morning, she very beautifully and without a single error “derived” the passages of the song “Engagement.” But why?.. Why didn’t she know that this charming song had an author, and that it was not a folk song...,” Georges whispered sadly, reproaching himself for his gullibility.

Let us leave the suffering Bizet in the Library for a moment...

So, Sebastian Iradier Salaverri! The future composer was born on January 20, 1809 in Spain, in the Basque Country. Little Sebastian showed musical talent early on. The boy's parents sought to give their son a good education. Young Sebastian played the piano excellently and began composing songs. For some time he taught at the Madrid Conservatory.At one time Iradier lived in Paris, where he was a court musician - a singing teacher of the French Empress Eugenie (Napoleon's wife III).

As an indispensable accompanist, he accompanied singers on tours around the world. Among his “wards” are the outstanding Italian singer Marietta Alboni and the still very young, future great Adelina Patti.

During a tour of the New World, he found himself in Cuba, then still a Spanish colony, and with all his heart he fell in love with the open, cheerful, and friendly inhabitants of the island. It was then that he discovered Cuban culture and fell “without memory” in love with it. He, as a composer, was especially shocked by the burning and languid habanera songs and habanera dances. Habaneras (from the Spanish name for the capital of Cuba - La Habana - Habana) whimsically absorbed the tunes and rhythms of the Spaniards, Cubans, Creoles... It was then, soon after his stay in Cuba, that Sebastian Iradier wrote his famous Habaneras, which are still considered the BEST Habaneras in the entire history of this wonderful genre. Especially two: El Arreglito which we talk about in these notes and... the best song of all time (as professionals pompously call this Habanera) - La Paloma - “Dove”, which contains the following lines:

“Wherever you swim, I’m always there for you, my dear,

I will fly with a blue-winged dove.

I will find your sail over the sea wave,

You gently stroke my feathers with your hand.

Oh, my Dove!

Be with me, I pray!..”

Whoever sang this wonderful song! That's just some names: Maria Callas, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Edith Piaf, Mireille Mathieu, Lolita Torres, Robertino Loretti, Elvis Presley, Claudia Shulzhenko, Alla Pugacheva...

Later, Sebastian Iradier returned to his homeland, to the Basque Country, where (forgotten by everyone) he died on December 6, 1865.

He was never destined to know that his songs El Arreglito (thanks to Georges Bizet) and especially, La Paloma became extremely popular all over the world, immortalizing his name.

And the last thing about the Spanish Maestro. (This information is for the most inquisitive readers who want to check the information in these notes.) His full name Sebasti á n Iradier Salaverri (Salaberri ). At the insistence of his Paris publisher, in order to make his name more universal, he agreed to change the first letter of his surname from “ I" to "Y" " (Last name changed from Iradier on Yradier , but you will find both spellings). The reader can find information about Iradier and his songs in the Music Encyclopedia. – M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, Soviet composer. Ed. Yu.V. Keldysh, 1973 – 1982 and in many other reference publications.

Let us return, however, to the sufferer Georges Bizet.

Realizing that in the first edition of "Carmen" involuntarily made the mistake of believing that he was dealing with a folk song, he immediately went to the Opera Comique theater. At the same hour, he personally made corrections to the Vocal Score of the opera, indicating that Habanera Carmen is based on a song El ArreglitoSpanish composer Iradier.

That's the whole story.

The reader can easily answer the provocative question posed in the title of these notes.

Bizet's Opera

The first letter is "k"

Second letter "a"

Third letter "r"

The last letter of the letter is "n"

Answer for the clue "Bizet's Opera", 6 letters:
carmen

Alternative crossword questions for the word carmen

A cycle of poems by A. Blok

Opera by J. Bizet

Bizet's most "Spanish" opera

Female name: (Spanish from Latin) goddess of prophecy

Famous actress... Electra

Cycle by A. Blok

A cycle of poems by A. Blok

This opera heroine sang that love has wings like a bird.

Definition of the word carmen in dictionaries

Wikipedia Meaning of the word in the Wikipedia dictionary
"Carmen" is a 2003 Spanish film directed by Vicente Aranda. The plot was written by the director himself, based on the short story “Carmen” by Prosper Merimee. The first screening of the film took place on May 16, 2003 in France. The film was awarded in 7 national award nominations...

Examples of the use of the word carmen in literature.

One evening I was sitting with Dorothea, whom I had tamed, treating her from time to time with a glass of anise, when suddenly Carmen

Dorothea, whom he had almost tamed by treating her from time to time with a glass of anise, when suddenly Carmen accompanied by a young man, lieutenant of our regiment.

He will vividly imagine the burning Mexican glances, the sidelocks curled like Carmen, on saffron cheeks, velvet pants of bullfighters, navajas, guitars, banderillas and tiger passions.

Carmen Da Gama was Irish's cousin, the orphaned daughter of Epiphania's sister named Blimunda and the owner of a small printing house, a certain Lobu.

But Irish da Gama, exhausted by excesses, remained in such apathy as Carmen I couldn’t dispel it with any reproaches.

"Carmen" is the culmination of Bizet's work. The approach to reaching this peak was the Arlesian.
“As long as the subjects he chose distracted him from the main thing (with the exception of the music of “Arlesienne”), his talent did not receive impulses to a bright flash: the flame smoldered. The plot of “Carmen” turned out to be the spark that triggered the explosion-discharge! The energy has awakened." These words, written by the remarkable Soviet musicologist B.V. Asafiev, emphasize the special place of the opera among other works of the composer and point to the fruitful significance of the plot that interested Bizet.
The plot of "Carmen" is borrowed from a short story by Prosper Merimee, published in 1845.
Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870) was a brilliant French writer who emerged during the period of rapid flowering of French romantic literature.

“A sharp and original writer” (according to Pushkin), Merimee captured in living images cold secular people, consumed by boredom and fruitless doubts. Along with pictures of empty social life, integral, strong, direct and spontaneous natures occupy a significant place in Merimee’s work (“Carmen”, “Matteo Falcone”).
In Merimee’s complex creative appearance, one should also emphasize the writer’s characteristic romantic attraction to the extraordinary, the exceptional, and the attraction to the exotic.
One of the creators of the modern short story, Merimee is distinguished by his special style of storytelling - elegant, subtle, entertaining and witty, not without skeptical notes.
Among Merimee's brilliant short stories, in addition to "Carmen", are "Lokis" (known in our country as "The Bear's Wedding", it was shown in the cinema and in the theater), "Double Failure", "Colomba" and "The Blue Room". Mention should also be made of Merimee’s major works, for example, “The Chronicle of the Times of Charles IX” - the history of St. Bartholomew’s Night.

Tsuniga - People's Artist of the RSFSR V.A. Lossky

Merimee's Russian connections are very interesting. Pushkin, Turgenev and our other great writers loved and knew him.
Merimee had deep respect and admiration for Russian literature and even studied the Russian language.
He translated a lot from Russian into French - Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, and also translated his favorite work - Pushkin’s “Gypsies”. A number of works by Merimee on Russian history and literature are known.
The libretto of “Carmen”, executed with great professional skill by Meillac and Halévy,4 reveals a number of differences in comparison with Mérimée’s short story. These differences are deepened by Bizet's music. As is known, the creative transformation of literary primary sources is more the rule than the exception in world opera literature. Suffice it to recall “Eugene Onegin” and “The Queen of Spades” by Tchaikovsky.
Bizet, together with his librettists, transformed the main characters of the opera - Carmen, Don Jose. Thus, he endowed Carmen with greater humanity and sincerity, especially in the brilliant fortune-telling scene:
Don José Bizet is very different from Don José Lizarrabengoa in Merimee's short story—a rude and simple man, a robber who terrifies the surrounding population.

In his Don José, Bizet brought to the fore a fiery, passionate feeling for Carmen; Bizet emphasized the spiritual gentleness of Don Jose, his filial love; The opera conveys José's suffering, for example, in the scene of the meeting with Escamillo and Micaela. mountains, in the final act - in the scene with Carmen.
Bizet and his librettists completely abandoned some of the characters and motives of Merimee's novella. For example, Carmen's ferocious husband, the smuggler Garcia, is missing from the opera.
But Bizet greatly developed other, barely outlined images of the novella. The composer gave bright life to two heroes, only touched by Merimee's brush. This is the bullfighter Escamillo (Lucas in Merimee's novella) and, in particular, the peasant girl Michaela. The image of Michaela brings a bright, lyrical stream to the opera.

There is hardly a person in the world who would dare to boo the immortal creation of Georges Bizet - the opera Carmen. It was during the first premiere of the opera that the public behaved so cruelly and mercilessly that after some time the composer, according to one version, died of a broken heart; according to another, he committed suicide by diving into the icy waters of the Seine. During the premiere of Bizet's opera, everyone turned their backs on him: both friends and fans. And his best friend, composer Charles Gounod (author of the opera “Faust”), stated that Bizet ripped off “Aria with a Flower” from him. Now every mezzo-soprano in the world dreams of performing the part of Carmen, but then Georges’ wife, the beautiful Genevieve, defiantly left the auditorium arm in arm with her lover.

“If recognition found the authors during their lifetime, and not a hundred years after their death!”, the composer often liked to exclaim, anticipating his fate. But be that as it may, fame came to Bizet exactly a hundred years after his death, and precisely thanks to “Carmen”. So who was the prototype of the fatal beauty, for whose heart the poor soldier Don Jose and the brilliant bullfighter Escamillo fight for her heart in the opera? Everyone knows that the libretto of the opera was written by Ludovico Halevi, who was very friendly with Bizet, from Prosper Merimee’s short story “Carmen” - about the passion of the Andalusian Jose for the fatal smuggler Carmen. But the reader will not find in the novella what a listener of Bizet’s opera will find: no vivid images, no strength of characters, no colors of Spanish life. The focus of the novella is the confession of Don Jose, who, out of jealousy, killed the woman he loved. Carmen is not presented brightly, and everything is focused on the personal experiences of the main character. Naturally, the question arises: who is the woman who inspired Georges Bizet to create such a popular image?

It is believed that she was an elite courtesan, actress, professional equestrian, popular writer, and part-time widow of the Comte de Chabriand, better known as Mogador. They met on the train. He was 28, she was 42. She was going to watch how her villa “Lionell” was being built. It turned out that they live next door. Then Mogador knew all of Paris, especially after her scandalous book “Farewell to the World” was published, with which she not only earned popularity, but also saved her beloved husband, who had already died by the time she met Bizet, from a debt trap. In this book, Mogador admitted that she was pushed into prostitution by her mother’s second husband’s criminal passion for her. Her stepfather often tried to rape her, and when she ran away, he caught her, beat her, and sold her to a brothel. But Mogador not only found a new life there, but was also able to achieve unsurpassed success.

She was compared to the goddess Venus herself, she was so able to capture the attention of men. But the most interesting thing is that, while hosting many, she loved only her husband. The acquaintance with the composer flattered the Mogadors. Probably, already at the first meeting she added him to the list of those interesting acquaintances that fate presents to famous people. No more, no less. But Bizet sincerely fell in love with this woman. And she laughed at his love, saying, like a true Carmen: “I like men who don’t need me better.” Of course, Mogador was aware that there was little that could connect them except bed. She understood that Bizet was young, and she was getting old. Mogador herself pushed the composer away from her, boldly laughing at him: in the presence of her mother and family, a tub of water was poured on Bizet, inflamed with passion, and the young composer, amid the screams and laughter of the inhabitants of the courtesan’s house, was expelled from her life.

Georges' pride was hurt. He was ill for a long time after parting with his beloved. But - c’est la vie, as the French say! Fate brings great people together so that they have a bright shared experience, and only bright love stories are worthy of being inspired by the Muse. As long as there are such meetings, I want to believe that life is wonderful. I would like to wish all readers to be worthy of great love, but we must remember that great love is also a great sacrifice and a great disappointment. But I want to believe that it is your love that will become worthy of recognition by the Muse, just as the passion of composer Georges Bizet for the elite courtesan Mogador turned out to be worthy of recognition. Text from here: SchoolLife.ru

The image of the young Spanish gypsy Carmen was originally described in the novel of the same name by P. Merimee in 1845. The general picture of the character of the fatal beauty is formed from men's book narratives.

The narrator meets a gypsy woman on the embankment. The Frenchman has mixed feelings when looking at the servant of the dark forces. He looks at her with interest, which turns into fear and alienation. The gloomy light, the background of a dark night river, add tragedy and a gloomy atmosphere that will haunt the heroes throughout the entire story.

Georges Bizet, the creation of an opera

Bizet began work on the opera in 1874. The stage "Carmen" subsequently underwent major changes. The libretto was rich in drama and deep emotional contrasts; the characters became more vibrant. A colorful folk gypsy theme was added to the opera. The premiere of the story of the life and love of a Spanish woman took place in 1875, but was absolutely unsuccessful, since the concepts of morality of that time differed from those embodied in the opera.

The first person to appreciate the girl’s image was Tchaikovsky. According to him, this masterpiece of Bidet reflects all the musical goals of the era. 10 years later, the film “Carmen” is becoming increasingly popular and winning the hearts of viewers.

Bizet's opera introduced folk character traits into the appearance of the gypsy. To do this, the composer moved the scene of events to the square and to the unimaginably beautiful mountainous expanses. The wild gorges and gloomy city slums have been replaced by the sunny streets of Seville. Bizet created a Spain full of joyful life.

He placed in all places a mass of people who are in constant motion, depicting a happy life. An important aspect of the opera was the inclusion of folk episodes. The gloomy features of the drama took on the appearance of an optimistic tragedy of what was happening.

Bizet put into the idea of ​​the opera the importance of asserting the rights of people to express freedom of feelings. The opera was a collision of two points of view of the psychological development of mankind. If Jose defends only the patriarchal view, then the gypsy tries to prove that life in freedom, which is not constrained by the norms and dogmas of accepted morality in society, is much better and more beautiful.

Gypsy image of Carmen in the opera "Carmen"

The Gypsy is one of the brightest heroines of opera life. Passionate temperament, feminine irresistibility and independence - all this literally screams in the image of Carmen. She has practically no connection with her literary heroine in the description. All this was done intentionally in order to reveal more passion in the heroine and remove the cunning and thieving habits of the book character. Moreover, Bizet gave her the opportunity to seek the right to gain her freedom with a tragic condition - the loss of her own life.

The opera's overture is the initial description of Carmen's musical image. A fatal passion plays out between a gypsy woman and a Spaniard, Jose. The music is reminiscent of a leitmotif from a bullfighter festival, it is sharp and hot-tempered. Subsequently, this motif returns in dramatic scenes.

Portrait of a Spanish woman

The full image of Carmen is revealed through the famous Spanish dance habanera, which is the progenitor of tango. Bizet created a whole range of languid, sensual, passionate movements to the true melody of Cuban freedom. This is not just a portrait of a hot gypsy, but also a story in movements about her desire to be free in her love - this is her position in life.

The girl's characterization continues in the dance variation until the third act. This is a series of scenes with songs and dances to Spanish rhythms. Gypsy folklore completes the picture when the interrogation sequence comes. In it, Carmen performs a playful gypsy song, she mocks and defies, singing one verse after another.

Spanish-gypsy character

A more significant description of the image of Carmen appears in the Spanish folk dance Seguidilla. Under the virtuoso playing, the gypsy shows her unique Spanish character, and the composer compares the minor and major scales.

The cymbals, tambourine and triangle in the next action return the gypsy appearance to the image of Carmen. The increasing dynamics of the tempo gives the girl a perky, energetic and temperamental look.

Image of Carmen in a duet

The military guy Jose, in love with the gypsy, watches with joy in his eyes her songs and dances using a castanet. The melody is simple enough that Carmen sings it without using words. Jose admires the girl, but remembers his military duty as soon as he hears the call for military training.

However, freedom-loving Carmen does not understand this affection; even after Jose declares her love, she does not stop reproaching the guy. Afterwards the duet turns into a solo gypsy woman who wants to lure the young military man into her life of freedom. Here you can see a very simple and frivolous image of a passionate gypsy.

Big solo outing

Her solo performance occupies a large place in the opera. It is built on the themes of saying goodbye to one’s debt and escaping to one’s native land. The second theme is accompanied by a tarantella dance, and the first by song motifs. As a result, all this turns into a kind of hymn to freedom.

However, the conflict worsens, and the more the girl’s experience grows, the deeper and more dramatic the image of Carmen becomes. The turning point comes only during the aria in the fortune telling scene. Carmen finally realizes that having exclusively selfish intentions to select those around her to her will, she is losing her own “I”. For the first time, the gypsy thinks about how she is wasting her life.

The end of the opera

In the fortune telling scene, the characterization of Carmen's image takes three forms. The first and last are funny songs with girlfriends, the second is a separate aria of a gypsy. The expressiveness of the performance of the aria is a distinctive feature of the image of Carmen in this phase of the opera. The song was originally intended to be performed in a minor key, without dance accompaniment. The low tones of the orchestra part, the gloomy coloring of which is achieved thanks to the sound of the trombones, bring an atmosphere of mourning. The wave principle of vocals is adjacent to the rhythmic pattern of musical accompaniment.

The gypsy performs the last act in duets with Escamillo, who brings a touch of love to the image of Carmen. The second duet is embodied with Jose, it resembles a tragic duel, full of sorrow - it is the culmination of the entire opera "Carmen". The image of Carmen is adamant in the face of José's pleas and threats. She responds dryly and laconically to the melodic songs of the military man. The theme of passion appears again in the orchestra.

The development of events takes place along a dramatic line with the invasion of screams from outsiders. The opera's finale ends with Carmen's death while Escamillo is being celebrated as the winner. Born in freedom, the gypsy decides to commit suicide and prove that she is also free in this choice. The festive sound of the bullfighter march theme is juxtaposed with a fatal motif.