Habanera

Georges Bizet died only 3 months after the Paris premiere of his last opera, Carmen. He missed its premiere in Vienna 4 months after his death which launched the opera into popularity. Carmen is a seductive gypsy, easily giving and taking away her love. In Habanera, she sings: love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame. Of course if she'd tried to tame herself, she probably wouldn't have ended up dead by the hand of a scorned lover in Act 4.

Anvil Chorus

This morning I woke up to Giuseppe Verdi's Anvil Chorus playing in my head. It was actually the opening few measures, not the more known part where the anvils are clanging. Here's a little information about the piece from wikipedia:
The Anvil Chorus is the English term for the Coro di zingari (Italian gypsy chorus), a piece of music from Act 2, Scene 1 of Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore (The Troubador) (1853) which depicts Spanish Gypsies striking their anvils at dawn (hence its English name) and singing the praises of hard work, good wine, and their gypsy women.