Georges Bizet
Known for one of the world's most popular operas, Carmen, Georges Bizet deserves attention as well for other works of remarkable melodic charm. Many of his works received cool receptions upon their premieres but are now considered central to the repertory of classical music.
Bizet was born in Paris on October 25, 1838 and grew up in a happy, musical family that encouraged his talents. He learned to read music at the same time he learned to read letters, both equally well. Entering the Paris Conservatory before he was ten, he earned first prize in solfège within six months, a first prize in piano in 1852, and eventually, the coveted Prix de Rome in 1857 for his cantata Clovis et Clotilde. His teachers had included Marmontel for piano and Halévy for composition, but his greatest influence was Charles Gounod, of whom Bizet later said, "You were the beginning of my life as an artist." Bizet himself hid away his Symphony in C, written when he was 17, feeling it was too much like its models, Gounod's symphonies. The two years spent in Rome after winning his prize would be the only extensive amount of time (and a greatly impressionable one) that Bizet would spend outside of Paris in his brief life. When he returned to Paris, he lost confidence in his natural talents and began to substitute dry Germanic or academic writing for his own developing idiom. He composed a one-act opera for production at the Opéra-Comique, but the theater's director engaged him to write a full-length opera instead, Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers). It was not a success at the time, but despite a few weaknesses, the work was revived in 1886, and its sheer beauty has earned it a respected position among the lesser-played operatic repertory. In 1863, Bizet's father bought land outside Paris where he built two bungalows, one of which Bizet frequently used as a compositional retreat. He began a friendship (apparently not a physical one) with a neighbor-woman named Céleste Mogador, a former actress, author, courtesan, circus rider, and dancehall girl. She is said to have been the model for his masterpiece's title role of Carmen. Bizet earned his living as an accompanist and publishing house arranger. Meanwhile, he poured his creative efforts into an immense five-act opera in the grand tradition, Ivan IV, but it was never performed. This proved to be a pattern for the rest of his career. Bizet would work hard to get an opera produced, but even so, it would usually receive only a handful of performances. Bizet's corpus of unfinished works is large, and testifies to his unsettled existence and his difficulty in finding a place in France's notoriously hierarchical and conservative musical world. In 1869, Bizet married Geneviève Halévy, the daughter of his teacher. The marriage did not turn out to be a happy one, primarily due to her family's history of mental illness. In 1872, Bizet's splendid incidental music for the play L'arlèsienne was poorly received, but when the composer assembled the music into an orchestral suite for a November performance, it found great acclaim. At last confident of his creative vision, Bizet was able to steer his final masterpiece through various obstacles, including the objections of singers and theater directors who were shocked by Carmen's subject matter. When the opera had its premiere on March 3, 1875, it was received barely well enough to hang on for future productions. Although it took audiences a few months to catch on, Bizet died convinced it was a failure.
© TiVo Staff /TiVo
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Liceu Brass Ensemble
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Georges Bizet, Christian Lindberg, Liceu Opera Orchestra
Classical - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on Jun 27, 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Only The Best From Georges Bizet
Pop - Released by Only Between Us Records on Mar 31, 2017
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Carmen Suite - Symphony In C (Alternate Mix)
Classical - Released by YOYO USA, Inc. on Jan 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Georges Bizet - L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2 - Symphonie No. 1
Classical - Released by JamadaDigital on Dec 13, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
George Bizet - Carmen Suite 1 y Suite 2
Classical - Released by Piros - Artyvoz on Jun 1, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Clásicos del Milenio, Carmen - Sinfonía No. 1
The London Festival Orchestra, Simfonicni orkester RTV Slovenija
Classical - Released by Piros - Send on Apr 16, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
EG Favorites
Gioachino Rossini, Carl Maria von Weber, Georges Bizet
Classical - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on Jul 6, 2022
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Classical Hall: Georges Bizet
Pop - Released by Only Between Us Records on May 5, 2017
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Highlights from Carmen (Digitally Remastered)
Opera - Released by EMG Classical on Aug 27, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: L'arlésienne Suite No. 2 (Incomplete) [Digitally Remastered]
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on Nov 13, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carmen Suite No.1 y No. 2
Classical - Released by Piros - Artyvoz on Nov 20, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandes Maestros, Obras Clásicas Vol. 7
Classical - Released by Piros Comercial Digital on Sep 30, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet (Red Classics)
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on Jun 9, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Happy: Classics for Sunny Days
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on Jun 10, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Georges Bizet. 20 Golden Melodies In Modern Processing
Classical - Released by Russian Compact Disc on Dec 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carmen Suite
Hercules Brass Ensemble, Christian Lindberg, Georges Bizet
Classical - Released by EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE on Sep 13, 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet - L'Arlesienne Suites - Symphony In C
Georges Bizet, Hans Hagen, Vienna Colonaden Orchestra
Classical - Released by Denon on Jan 1, 2007
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Bizet: CARMEN - Opera without Voices
Arte Ensemble, Maulbronn Monastery Edition, Georges Bizet
Ballets - Released by K&K Verlagsanstalt on Apr 20, 2010
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Famous Overtures I
Pro Musica Symphony Orchestra, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by JamadaDigital on Dec 15, 2014
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Sadler's Wells Opera Present Carmen (Highlights Sung in English)
Opera - Released by Stage Door on Apr 21, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bizet: Symphony in C, L'Arlésienne Suites - Debussy: Children's Corner Suite
Leopold Stokowski's Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Cala Records on Sep 1, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo