The opera, Carmen is based on a novel by Prosper Merimee. It is now very popular but George Bizet's opera version started off as a failure when it was premiered in Paris, 03~03~1875. They were booed off stage and so Bizet was very upset. But others saw that it could be made better.Sadly, Bizet died 3 months later of a cold when he was just 37. People carried on the opera though, and now, there are many different versions of Carmen, but the basic story line is always the same:.
Carmen is a wild Spanish gypsy, and also a public enemy. (In the song "That's Love" which she sings when she first appears on stage says that she is just fickle and faithless and out for what she can get.) She falls in love with a handsome soldier called Don Jose. But he already has a girlfriend, Micaela, an ordinary village girl who has done nothing wrong. Don Jose dumps Micaela and leaves the army to be with Carmen. But Carmen soon gets bored with him and starts lusting after a "hunky" famous bull fighter. His name is Escamillo. Don Jose gives Carmen a chance to come back to him but she refuses and goes to watch Escamillo in a major bull fight. Don Jose gets angry and waits outside the ring. When Carmen comes out he gives her one last chance to come back to him. Stupidly, she just laughs in his face and says she"d rather be with Escamillo as he's more exciting and dangerous than he is. So Don Jose says that if he can't have Carmen, nobody can. And so he stabs her. As Don Jose is arrested and then led off stage, Carmen dies a well-deserved bloody death. In the background Escamillo wins the big bull fight and the crowd cheer him.