The directory «Plots»

Mérimée Prosper
(1803–1870)

French author. He first wrote a collection of plays in imitation of Spanish drama, The Plays of Clara Gazul (1825, tr. 1825), and a collection of so-called Illyrian ballads, La Guzla (1827). His important historical novel, The Chronicle of the Reign of Charles IX (1829; tr. 1830, 1890), is marked by an objectivity and psychological penetration rare among the romanticists. He was master of a concise and understated style, most fully realized in his nouvelles, or long stories, for which he is best known. Outstanding examples include Colomba (1852, tr. 1853); Carmen (in Revue des Deux Mondes, 1845; as a book, 1846, tr. 1881), which was the basis of Bizet’s opera; La Vénus d’Ille (1837); and Letters to an Unknown (in Revue des Deux Mondes, 1873; as a book, 1874, tr. 1874). His short story, “Mateo Falcone” (1876), is a masterpiece of the genre. A cultivated man of the world, Mérimée was a student of archaeology, a linguist who translated Russian authors into French, and a senator under the Empire. He also wrote literary and art criticism and historical studies.

Austria, 1969, Opera «Carmen»

Cuba, 1976, Bailet «Carmen»

France, 1960, Georges Bizet and «Carmen»

France, 1970, Prosper Merimee

Hungary, 1967, Opera «Carmen»

Madagaskar, 1988, Bizet, Carmen

Monaco, 1975, Prologue

Monaco, 1975, Lilla Pastia's tavern

Monaco, 1975, The Smugglers's Den

Monaco, 1975, Confrontation at Ceville

Rumania, 1963, Elena Teodorini as Carmen

San-Marino, 1999, Opera «Carmen»

Uruguay, 2000, Opera «Carmen»

USA, 1997, Richard Tucker as Duke and Jose

USA, 1997, Lawrence Tibbett as Toreador

France, 1970.02.14, Paris. Mérimée

Russia, 2002, Maria Maksakova as Carmen

Rumania, 1964, Elena Teodorini as Carmen