Today, March 3rd

Clémentine Margaine (top) was a “seductive firebrand in the MET’s recent production; While Beyonce’s Carmen (bottom) seduced watchers of Super Bowl XXXVI.

"CARMEN” SHOCKED PARIS ON THIS DAY IN 1875. Georges Bizet’s tragic tale of a Spanish seductress who first charms then discards the soldier, Don José—and is ultimately killed by him— may be opera’s most iconic. Certainly, its melodies are more familiar to non-operagoers than any other’s. And with 698 performances during the 2017/2018 season, it ranks second only to “La Traviata” as the most produced opera in the world. All of which makes the dismissal of its premiere as “Vulgar,” and “A disaster that will never play more than twenty times” even more surprising.

Bizet thought “Carmen” a work of “Clarity, vivacity & colour.” Today, the world agrees.

The true tragedy is that the composer never saw the critical about-face that occurred just months later when a Viennese production was acclaimed as a masterpiece. He had died days earlier of a heart attack at age 36.

Would Bizet smile at the fact that his famous aria, “Habanera,” can be heard in everything from an episode of “Family Guy” to Beyonce’s Pepsi commercial? I hope so.