Carmen (1915 Cecil B. DeMille film) so DeMille instructed his screenwriter brother William to base his scenario on the public domain novella "Carmen" by Prosper Mérimée. The novella's Carmen was more wilful and manipulative than the opera version. For instance, William included a cigarette factory fight scene from the book which was not found in the opera. Composer Hugo Riesenfeld arranged the orchestral score, his first of many for film, which "was" based on that of Bizet's opera. It was performed at the premiere and other prestigious screenings. There have been two restorations of Riesenfeld's score: the first was by Gillian Anderson, recorded with the London
Opera in Latin America in Helsinki, Finland. Opera in Latin America The history of opera in Latin America dates back to at least the early 18th century. Opera arrived in Latin America as a consequence of European colonization. On October 19, 1701, "La púrpura de la rosa" premiered in Lima in the Viceroyalty of Peru, the first opera known to be composed and performed in the Americas. It is an opera in one act by Spanish composer Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco with a libretto by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and is the only surviving opera by Torrejón y Velasco. It tells the