San Diego Opera Podcast

Carmen premiered at the Opera Comique in Paris in March, 1875.  The Comique had certain performing traditions that Bizet and his team had to follow, one of them being that dialogue between characters was normally spoken, not sung.  In fact it wasn't until after Bizet's death in June of that same year that the fully-sung version of the opera was first presented to the public.  Let's briefly explore the difference in these two versions.