Libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy based on the novella by Prosper Merimee

ACT I.

In a square in Seville, townspeople and soldiers relax in the summer sun. Micaela arrives in search of her sweetheart, Don Josй, a corporal. A fellow officer, Moralиs, tells her Josй will be there later, then offers himself as a substitute, but she leaves hastily. As the guard changes, children parade, imitating the soldiers ("Avec la garde montante"), whose number now includes Josй. At the sound of the noon bell, girls from the cigarette factory come to smoke and chat ("Dans l’air"). Carmen, a Gypsy who works in the factory, flirts with the local men, airing her philosophy of life: love is a wild bird that cannot be tamed (Habanera: "L’amour est un oiseau rebelle"). Sullen and distracted, Josй sits apart. Drawn by his indifference, Carmen tosses him a flower from her bodice as the work bell calls the girls back inside. Micaela returns to give Josй news of his mother, who has sent him a kiss, which the girl delivers shyly ("Parle-moi de ma mиre"). No sooner has she left than a disturbance is heard in the factory: Carmen is involved in a fight. The girls run out, arguing over who started it. Lt. Zuniga orders Josй to arrest Carmen, but she resists their questions with brazen nonchalance. Her wrists bound, she is left alone with Josй, who forbids her to speak to him. Instead, she flirts with him by singing "to herself" about Lillas Pastia’s inn and the rendezvous she might make with "a certain officer" who has taken her fancy (Seguidilla: "Prиs des remparts de Sйville"). Josй, intoxicated, agrees to let her escape in exchange for the promised rendezvous; when she pushes him to the ground and runs off, he is arrested for his negligence.

ACT II.

A month later, at Lillas Pastia’s, Carmen regales the customers with a Gypsy song ("Les tringles des sistres tintaient"). The matador Escamillo arrives, boasting of his exploits in the arena ("Votre toast"). He is immediately attracted to Carmen, who puts off his amorous advances. When the inn closes, Dancaire and Remendado try to convince Frasquita, Mercйdиs and Carmen to accompany them on their next smuggling trip. The girls are game, except for Carmen, who says she is in love with Josй and is awaiting his return from prison (quintet: "Nous avons en tкte"). The others laugh at her, then depart as Josй is heard approaching. Carmen sings and dances for him, but when a distant bugle sounds the retreat, he says he must return to the barracks. Carmen angrily mocks him, saying he doesn’t love her, and he replies by telling her how he has kept the flower she threw, the scent of its wilted blossom conjuring up her image in his prison cell ("La fleur que tu m’avais jetйe"). He refuses her suggestion that he join her wild mountain life, but when Zuniga breaks in, looking for Carmen, Josй loses his temper and attacks his superior. Carmen summons the other Gypsies, who throw the lieutenant out. Josй, now an outlaw, has no choice but to join their band.

ACT III.

In their mountain hideout, the smugglers congratulate themselves on their successful trade, but Josй is unhappy. Carmen finds his homesickness tiresome and occupies herself with her friends, reading fortunes in the cards. Frasquita foresees a lover for herself, Mercйdиs a rich husband, but Carmen sees only death ("En vain pour йviter"). The Gypsies leave Josй as lookout, and Micaela enters, frightened but determined to find him ("Je dis que rien ne m’йpouvante"). She hides at the sound of a shot, fired by Josй as a warning to Escamillo, who has come looking for Carmen. The two men start to fight but are separated by the Gypsies. Escamillo invites them all to his next bullfight and leaves. Remendado discovers Micaela, who has come to beg Josй to return home to his ailing mother. Carmen dismisses him willingly, but Josй, convinced she wants to be rid of him in order to take up with Escamillo, vows to find her again after he has seen his mother.

ACT IV.

In Seville’s Plaza de Toros, the crowd gathers for the bullfight, hailing Escamillo. He and Carmen declare their love, and he enters the ring. Carmen’s friends warn that Josй has been spotted nearby, looking desperate, but she is a fatalist and defiantly remains in the square to face him. He enters ("C’est toi?") and begs her to return to him, saying there is still time for them to start again. She replies that everything is finished between them, tossing his ring in his face as the crowd is heard cheering the triumphant Escamillo. When Carmen tries to run past Josй into the arena, he stabs her, then falls by her body in despair.