Georges Bizet, originally named Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer of the Romantic era born on October 25, 1838, in Paris, France. He is best known for his operas, particularly Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire.
Bizet was a prodigy at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. Despite being recognized as an outstanding pianist, he chose not to perform publicly often. After spending almost three years in Italy, he returned to Paris to find that the main opera theatres preferred established classical repertoires over newcomers’ works.
His career faced challenges as his keyboard and orchestral compositions were largely ignored, leading him to earn a living by arranging and transcribing the music of others. He began many theatrical projects in the 1860s, but most were abandoned, and neither of his two operas that reached the stage during this time—Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth—were immediately successful.
After serving in the National Guard during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, he had little success with his one-act opera Djamileh. However, an orchestral suite derived from his incidental music to Alphonse Daudet’s play L’Arlésienne was instantly popular. The production of Carmen was delayed due to concerns that its themes of betrayal and murder would offend audiences. After its premiere on March 3, 1875, Bizet was convinced that the work was a failure. Tragically, he died of a heart attack three months later, on June 3, 1875, in Bougival, near Paris, unaware that Carmen would prove to be a spectacular and enduring success.
Bizet’s marriage to Geneviève Halévy was intermittently happy and produced one son. After his death, apart from Carmen, his work was generally neglected. Manuscripts were given away or lost, and published versions of his works were frequently revised and adapted by others. He founded no school and had no obvious disciples or successors. Despite years of neglect, his works began to be performed more frequently in the 20th century, and commentators have acclaimed him as a composer of brilliance and originality whose premature death was a significant loss to French musical theatre.
