10087 – La Fleur que tu m'avias jeté

Georges Bizet (1839 - 1875)

Arranged by Roger Harvey

Difficulty: Medium

Price: £22.50

Programme notes:
Carmen is one of the most popular operas in the whole repertoire but its opening run was almost a disaster. It was panned by the critics and though it struggled to a run of 48 performances it did not enjoy popular support. Bizet died of a heart attack, aged 36, on 3 June 1875, never knowing how popular Carmen would become. However, a production in Vienna a few months after Bizet's untimely death, was greeted with critical and popular approval leading to worldwide popularity.
Its style was a major influence in the rise of realistic opera especially in the Italian verismo movement.

The story is set in Seville, Spain, around 1820. Carmen, a beautiful Gypsy with a fiery temper woos the corporal Don José, an inexperienced soldier. Their relationship leads to his rejection of his former love, mutiny against his superior, and joining a gang of smugglers. His jealousy when she turns from him to the bullfighter Escamillo leads him to murder Carmen.
This aria tells of the flower Carmen had thrown at Don José. He has kept it while in prison to remind him of her and is proof of his love.

Performance notes:
Trumpet 1 part will be best played on a small trumpet (E flat for preference) to enable the high tessitura to be negotiated while still playing lightly and gently.
Be very careful with the balance between voice and accompaniment, reduce dynamics if necessary.