Carmen is undoubtedly one of the most popular and most performed operas in the world. Its premiere in 1875 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, however, was only a moderate success: The outrageous new realism, the brutality and vehemence in the actors’ actions, and not least the shady milieu, overwhelmed the conventional Parisian audience, which was stuck in old patterns of thought.The opera is set around 1820 in Seville, Andalusia, and is based on the novella of the same name by Prosper Merimée. The libretto was co-produced by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy (nephew of composer Jacques Fromental Halévy and also cousin of Georges Bizet’s wife). Shortly after its premiere, Carmen began its triumphal march across the world via Vienna and the rest of Europe, a triumph that continues to this day.The theme and plot of this opera inspired numerous artists to create independent works, and various (opera and dance) films as well as ballets were made. Georges Bizet (1838-1875), however, unfortunately did not live to see the triumph of his sensual and passionate masterpiece. Exactly three months to the day after the first performance, he succumbed to a fatal heart attack at the age of only 36.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) wrote his “Aida” at a politically highly explosive time: Germany and France were on the brink of war (Franco-Prussian War 1870/71), which is why the premiere could not take place until a year later after the scheduled date: Because both the stage sets and the costumes were stuck in the Prussian occupied Paris. The opera had been commissioned by the Egyptian Viceroy Ismail Pasha. However, not, as often wrongly assumed, for the inauguration of the Suez Canal, but for the opening of the new opera house in Cairo in 1871.Aida shows the versatility of this exceptional Italian composer in its entirety: large-scale mass scenes and choruses are juxtaposed with equally intimate, chamber-play-like scenes that reveal a soul drama that is ingenious in every detail. In this respect, the work can certainly be interpreted as a turning point in Verdi’s oeuvre, as it not only focuses on the vocal parts, but also assigns a new and leading role to the orchestra.Verdi received the 150,000 gold francs demanded for his composition, probably the highest honorarium granted to a composer to date. In addition, he demanded his own trumpets for the famous Triumphal March, the so-called Aida trumpets, which had to be commissioned as a special production. Today "Aida" is one of the most successful of the great operas of the 19th century.

When Giacomo Puccini read Henri Murger’s work Les scènes de la vie de bohème in 1893, he was immediately taken with the freshness, youth, passion, cheerfulness and love with all its joys and sufferings. Puccini (1858-1924) immediately recognized the ideal material for an opera. The libretto was written by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, who had already worked successfully with the composer for Manon Lescaut.Puccini worked out the depth of the characters in detail in his Bohème: Important moments were meticulously composed and text and music form an incomparable unity. Puccini completely attuned the themes to the action, in which lyrical-sentimental parts contrast excellently with humorous, lively parts. Since he was a genius at writing precisely for the human voice, his operas, above all "La Bohème", were a great success because of their incomparably beautiful melodies. Famous arias like "Che gelida manina" or "Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì" can also be found on opera samplers due to the intensity of the transported feelings or are a fixed component of concert evenings.The stage-effective piece, first performed in Turin in 1896, with its impressionistic features around the poet Rodolfo and his beloved Mimì, who cannot escape poverty and misery in their Parisian attic, still brings tears of emotion to the eyes of the audience today. Puccini’s masterpiece is certainly one of the most original and magical operas ever written.