Georges Bizet: Carmen-Suiten Nr.1 & 2 (180g) LP

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Carmen-Suiten Nr.1 & 2 (180g)
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet

+L'Arlesienne-Suiten Nr. 1 & 2

Label: Decca, 1958 - Serie: Speakers Corner Records

The suites of the 19th century, with their extractions of popular vocal and instrumental movements from opera, cast clear shadows on the best-of culture of modernism.

Thus, the compilation of the "Carmen" compilation only took place after Bizet's death and allowed the masterpiece of the stage to live on in the concert halls. The foreplay rolls forward fresh and powerful, the torero theme marches in proudly and pointedly, followed by the motif of fate in minor, which seems to burn into the ear and mind. With each bar it becomes perceptible that this suite is less an excerpt than a substance of the musical thinking of its creator.

Only Bizet's stage music remained of the five-part play "L'Arlésienne" after its unfortunate premiere, which he orchestrated and successfully introduced with his own hands shortly thereafter. Similar to Carmen, folksy melodies merge with personal style to create a timeless art that Ernest Ansermet and his orchestra set in scene.

Recording: April and May 1958 at Victoria Hall, Geneva, by Roy Wallace
Production: James Walker