Carmen is one of the most popular and most performed operas in the world. Their composer Bizet did not live to see the world premiere, which was a failure. However, the opera quickly established itself on all major stages and led to countless arrangements of some particularly beautiful musical numbers, including the Carmen Fantasy for violin and orchestra by the Spanish violin virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate.
Most likely, it was Bizet´s close friend and fellow student of Ernest Guiraud who combined a total of 12 numbers of the opera in two orchestral suites. As was customary in such cases, he replaced the missing singing voices with instruments. In addition to the two pocket scores, conducting score and orchestral parts are available as loan material. The musical text is based on our new scientific edition of the opera, edited by Robert Didion.