Since 1875 the heroine of the most performed opera in the world, Carmen has become a universal cultural icon. She has appeared in a multitude of ballets, on stage as well as ice rinks, and in some eighty international films. The success of Bizet’s opera owns a lot to the libretto’s singular accounting of the 1845 short story on which it is based. In her close textual analyses of Ludovic Halévy’s and Henri Meilhac’s libretto and Prosper Mérimée’s novella, the author strives to account for the multiple aspects of Carmen’s attraction that support Georges Bizet’s acclaimed musical score.
