Georges Bizet’s final opera, Carmen , has become one of the best-known plots with the most memorable of music, despite its initial rejection by Paris critics following its scandalous 1875 premiere at the Opera-Comique, a theatre known for works of a lighter flavour. Basing their work on Prosper Merimee’s novella, librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy have fashioned a timeless story of love, jealousy, and violence in the Spanish city of Seville, all set into motion by Carmen, a seductive, free-spirited femme fatale. The artist Davide Pizzigoni has created a stage for the imagination with richly allusive illustrations that capture the exotic spirit of the Spanish setting. J.D. McClatchy’s fluid translation of the libretto allows the listener full appreciation of Bizet’s swift and lustrous score.