Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet was born in Paris on October 25th 1838. He was a French romantic composer, writing some notable operas in his time before his career was cut short by his relatively early death. He studied at the Paris Conservatory and saw substantial success in his time there winning myriad prizes including the coveted Prix de Rome in 1857.

He was an outstanding pianist, although he very rarely performed in public, preferring instead to focus upon his composition. After his time in Rome, he returned to Paris finding that most of the Parisian opera houses and theatres were giving overwhelming preference to classical works, rather than new works and as such, his career briefly stalled and he spent much of his time arranging and transcribing for others whilst his own works were ignored.

He served in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 in the National Guard and upon his return to Paris, had some limited success with a one-act opera called Djamileh. An orchestral suite taken from some instrumental music for Daudet’s play L’Arlésienne was immediately very popular.

The premiere of his final and most successful work, Carmen, was delayed because Bizet worried that the themes of betrayal and murder would be too controversial for the opera house stage and would offend audiences. It was premiered on March 3rd 1875 and Bizet was sure that it was a failure. He sadly died of a heart attack three months later, never knowing the success that Carmen would go on to become.