The last act is a hurly-burly of the bull-fight, the Toreador's taking
march, the stormy duet between Don José and Carmen, and the tragic
dénouement in which the Carmen motive is repeated. The color of the
whole work is Spanish, and the dance tempo is freely used and
beautifully worked up with Bizet's ingenious and scholarly
instrumentation. Except in the third act, however, the vocal parts are
inferior to the orchestral treatment.




BOIELDIEU.

François Adrien Boieldieu was born Dec. 16, 1775, at Rouen, France.
Little is known of his earlier life, except that he studied for a time
with Broche, the cathedral organist. His first opera, "La Fille
Coupable," appeared in 1793, and was performed at Rouen with some
success. In 1795 a second opera, "Rosalie et Myrza," was performed in
the same city; after which he went to Paris, where he became
acquainted with many prominent musicians, among them Cherubini. His
first Paris opera was the "Famille Suisse" (1797), which had a
successful run. Several other operas followed, besides some excellent
pieces of chamber music which secured him the professorship of the
piano in the Conservatory. He also took lessons at this time of
Cherubini in counterpoint, and in 1803 brought out a very successful
work, "Ma Tante Aurore." We next hear of him in St. Petersburg, as
conductor of the Imperial Opera, where he composed many operas and
vaudevilles. He spent eight years in Russia, returning to Paris in
1811. The next year one of his best operas, "Jean de Paris," was