Carmen is undoubtedly one of the most popular and most performed operas in the world. Its premiere in 1875 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, however, was only a moderate success: The outrageous new realism, the brutality and vehemence in the actors’ actions, and not least the shady milieu, overwhelmed the conventional Parisian audience, which was stuck in old patterns of thought.The opera is set around 1820 in Seville, Andalusia, and is based on the novella of the same name by Prosper Merimée. The libretto was co-produced by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy (nephew of composer Jacques Fromental Halévy and also cousin of Georges Bizet’s wife). Shortly after its premiere, Carmen began its triumphal march across the world via Vienna and the rest of Europe, a triumph that continues to this day.The theme and plot of this opera inspired numerous artists to create independent works, and various (opera and dance) films as well as ballets were made. Georges Bizet (1838-1875), however, unfortunately did not live to see the triumph of his sensual and passionate masterpiece. Exactly three months to the day after the first performance, he succumbed to a fatal heart attack at the age of only 36.

Almost entirely in December 1789, the year of the revolution, the score of this Mozart opera, which is hard to beat in its complexity and amour, was written in the shortest possible time - this time again in collaboration with the famous librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, with whom Mozart had just before successfully brought "Le nozze di Figaro" to the stage. Probably in the tradition of the opera buffa, the opera “Così fan tutte - ossia la scuola degli amanti” was commissioned by Emperor Joseph II.At the center of the amusingly frivolous event is the experienced cynic Don Alfonso, who knows the weaknesses of mankind and who, like a puppeteer, allows the four main characters to repeatedly come together in new pair constellations. The plot, which is kept quite simple and contains no superfluous episodes, is symmetrically structured and corresponds to its character according to the Commedia dell’arte. The duets of the individual couples are bewitching and sensually musical, reflecting the vulnerability and impermanence of the human being. After the work was critically and negatively judged due to the moralizing basic attitude of the 19th century, and repeated revisions were made to the libretto, the opera is now one of the absolute favorites of the public.The American feature film Closer from 2004 with Julia Roberts and Jude Law in the leading roles is based on "Così fan tutte" both in its score and soundtrack.