Nietzsche's 'Carmen': A philosophical embrace of love and death in music

Friedrich Nietzsche, the influential philosopher, held a profound admiration for Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen." In 1888, he described the work as "completely" perfect, noting its "lightness, flexibility, and politeness." He found it "amiable" and free of strain, a stark contrast to what he perceived as the "polypus" in music, or the "infinite melody" he associated with Richard Wagner.

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She comes easily, flexibly, with politeness. She is amiable, she doesn’t sweat.

Nietzsche's praise for "Carmen" was also a veiled critique of Wagner, his former friend. He contrasted Bizet's opera, which he saw as elegant and accessible, with Wagner's music, which he deemed "sick" and a product of "decadence." Nietzsche felt that "Carmen" possessed a "racial" sophistication, not that of an individual, and praised its structure and organization, calling it "rich" and "precise."

Bizet, who died of a heart attack at the age of 36, shortly after "Carmen's" premiere, never witnessed the opera's global triumph. Despite early recognition as a child prodigy, his career was marked by a lack of lasting success beyond "Carmen." The opera, premiered just three months before his death, was initially met with a mixed reception, but its enduring popularity has cemented its status as a masterpiece.

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She is also 'evil, refined, fatalistic: she remains popular – she has the refinement of a race, not of an individual. She is rich. She is precise. She builds, organizes, gets things done: thereby she creates the contrast to the polypus in music, to the 'infinite melody'.

Teodor Currentzis, known for his bold interpretations, previously collaborated with director Romeo Castellucci on a celebrated production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in 2021. Their work on "Carmen," alongside Bizet's music, is expected to explore themes of "Eros and Thanatos", love and death, drawing connections from Bizet's opera to works like Berg's "Lulu" and Brahms's "Deutsches Requiem."

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To be successful today, one must either be German or dead.