Reality bites

Bizet returns to Paris determined to conquer the city’s opera houses. Plus, in Act 2 of Carmen, our heroine seems to be falling for José, but several others are competing for her attention. With Donald Macleod.

Georges Bizet’s story ought to have been a very straightforward one. It was clear to everyone who met him just how brilliantly and excitingly talented he was. He was also fortunate to live and work in Paris, a city laden with musical opportunities in the mid-nineteenth century. This week, Donald Macleod shows how Bizet’s life proved more challenging and event-filled than anyone might have expected – and that success can never be guaranteed!
Throughout the week, Donald also guides us through Bizet’s most celebrated work, Carmen – an opera famous for its Spanish heat, fractured passions and fabulous tunes.

Today, Bizet realises that, if he’s going to make it as an opera composer, he’ll need to win the approval of Paris’s powerful theatre impresarios. He produces what’s become one of his most beloved melodies, his Pearl Fishers duet, but will it impress the right people? Plus, we reach Act 2 of Carmen and meet the flamboyant bullfighter, Escamillo, who introduces himself with the famous Toreador’s chorus.

Les Pêcheurs de Perles: Prélude & Chorus “Sur la grève en feu où dort le flot bleu”
Les Cris de Paris
Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Alexandre Bloch

Vasco da Gama: Aria, “Ouvre ton Coeur”
Olga Peretyatko (soprano)
NDR Sinfonieorchester, conducted by Enrique Mazzola

Les Pêcheurs de Perles: Duet,“Au fond du temple saint”
Cyrille Dubois, tenor (Nadir)
Florian Sempey, baritone (Zurga)
Orchestre National de Lille conducted by Alexandre Bloch

Carmen (excerpts from Act 2)
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano (Carmen)
Roberto Alagna, tenor (Don José),
Thomas Hampson, bass-baritone (Escamillo)
Elizabeth Vidal, soprano (Frasquita)
Isabelle Cals, soprano (Mercédès)
Nicolas Cavallier, bass-baritone (Zuniga)
Ludovic Tézier, baritone (Moralès)
Nicolas Rivenq, baritone (Le Dancaïre)
Yann Beuron, tenor (Le Remendado)
Choeur 'Les Éléments'
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, conducted by Michel Plasson