Georges Bizet(1838-1875)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Georges Bizet was a child prodigy. Entering the Paris Conservatory at
the age of nine, he counted among his teachers Antoine Marmontel,
François Benoist and Jacques Halévy. At nineteen Bizet won a Prix de
Rome. That same year he wrote his first opera, 'Le Docteur Miracle', a
one-act comedy. After his studies in Italy he returned to Paris with
the intention of writing music for the stage. His 'Les Pêcheurs de
perles' (1863), 'La jolie fille de Perth' (1867) and 'Djamileh' however
met no more than moderate success. Bizet remained in relative obscurity
until 1872, when his incidental music for Daudet's "L'Arlésienne" won
him a degree of fame. It was at the suggestion of Camille du Locle,
director of the Opéra-Comique, that Bizet composed his opera 'Carmen'.
Bizet's librettists, Henri Leilhac and Ludovic Halévy, had based their
adaptation on a short novel by Prosper Mérimée. After initial bad
reviews, today 'Carmen' is probably the most known opera in the world.
The composer's strong dramatic sense, sensuous melodies, vivid
orchestration and pulsating rhythms combine into what more than one
critic has termed "the perfect opera."
