 In June 1872 Bizet informed Galabert : " I have just been ordered to compose three acts for the Opéra @-@ Comique . [ Henri ] Meilhac and [ Ludovic ] Halévy are doing my piece " . The subject chosen for this project was Prosper Mérimée 's short novel Carmen . Bizet began the music in the summer of 1873 , but the Opéra @-@ Comique 's management was concerned about the suitability of this risqué story for a theatre that generally provided wholesome entertainment , and work was suspended . Bizet then began composing Don Rodrigue , an adaptation of the El Cid story by Louis Gallet and Édouard Blau . He played a piano version to a select audience that included the Opéra 's principal baritone Jean @-@ Baptiste Faure , hoping that the singer 's approval might influence the directors of the Opéra to stage the work . However , on the night of 28 – 29 October , the Opéra burned to the ground ; the directors , amid other pressing concerns , set Don Rodrigue aside . It was never completed ; Bizet later adapted a theme from its final act as the basis of his 1875 overture , Patrie . 
