Habanera, from Carmen
Under the blazing midday sun, the girls of a Seville cigarette factory spend their lunch-break flirting with passers-by. The gypsy Carmen captivates Don José with her song "L’amour est un oiseau rebelle", to the seductive Cuban rhythm of the Habanera. Bizet’s 1875 opera has long been one of the world’s favourites, but to contemporary French audiences its Latin rhythms and passionate melodies seemed exotic and provocative. Carmen’s Habanera is still one of opera’s most sultry numbers.
R.G. Bratby, 2001
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