Not only that, Bizet’s opera was actually based on a story by another Frenchman – Prosper Mérimée.īut wherever she came from, Carmen has become one of history’s most iconic opera characters. It’s ironic, then, that this quintessential Spanish woman… was created by a Frenchman.

She’s lovestruck and a femme fatale at the same time. She’s hedonistic, impetuous, hot-tempered and cold-hearted. ROH/Bill Cooper Carmen herselfĬarmen, as created by Bizet, has become the stereotypical Spanish woman of the 19th century in the popular imagination. In a fit of jealousy, Don José follows Carmen to the amphitheatre where the bullfighters are about to perform – and stabs her. The pair become lovers and Don José ends up running away from the army to be with Carmen.īut two months later, Carmen has tired of Don José and has turned her attention to the bullfighter Escamillo.

When she is arrested for attacking another woman with a knife, she seduces Don José to escape. Local young men surround then and start to flirt – but Carmen explains her heart can’t be tied down with the unforgettable habanera, which begins with the words ‘Love is a rebellious bird that none can tame’. The opera opens as Carmen and her fellow cigarette-factory workers stream out at the end of a day. Opera doesn’t come much more dramatic than Carmen :

La boheme opera argumento