WIMBLEDON EVENTS

Bizet’s Carmen was ground-breaking in its realism, putting the lives of ordinary people, gypsies, smugglers, deserters, factory workers and various ne’er-do-wells centre stage.

Scorned by early critics, Bizet died convinced that he had written the greatest failure in the history of opera.

But, as predicted by Tchaikovsky, it rapidly became one of the most popular operas of all time, with its many memorable songs, such as the “Toréador Song” and “Habanera.”