How This Opera LITERALLY Killed its Composer

Bizet’s Carmen is one of the greatest and most popular of 19th Century operas but, when it was premiered 150 years ago, in 1875, it was considered a scandalous work, and the controversy surrounding it may well have contributed to Bizet’s untimely death in June of the same year. In this video Matthew King considers contemporary reactions to Carmen, including the enthusiastic reactions of Nietzsche and Tchaikovsky, and why the opera, with its fabulous balance of ‘light’ and ‘dark’ elements, continues to be important and relevant today. 0:00 “l’AMOUR”. Historical background 1:00 Controversy and contemporary reviews 4:42 Carmen’s huge success. Nietzsche’s opinion. 6:22 Tchaikovsky’s response to Carmen 7:45 Overfamiliarity vs Freshness 8:39 The Overture. Darkness & Light 10:27 Famous Tunes. Faux-Spanish style. 11:07 Schubert and Satie. Origins of the Musical 13:19 Stravinsky’s opinions. Realism, Morality and Fate. 15:02 The Card Aria. Comparison with Chopin. 16:23 “LA MORT”. The voice. The Habanera. Conclusion. The video features short extracts from Carlos Kleiber’s 1978 recording of Carmen. The complete performance can be found here: https://youtu.be/-q_7uabD118?si=fS7GMYUgSQTMMhQb&t=117 Extracts from original 19th century reviews were read from Nicolas Slonimsky's 'Lexicon of Musical Invective'. ⦿ SUPPORT US ON PATREON ⦿ https://www.patreon.com/c/musicprofessor ⦿ BUY US A Kofi ⦿ https://ko-fi.com/themusicprofessor ⦿ Support us on PayPal ⦿ https://paypal.me/themusicprofessor?c... ⦿ SUBSCRIBE TO THIS CHANNEL ⦿ https://bit.ly/3Pnnwon Commentary and piano: Matthew King Edited by Ian Coulter #carmen150 #bizet #themusicprofessor