There is a singing teacher in the family. He was registered under the name Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet, but at baptism he received the name Georges, by which he was subsequently known. Bizet entered the Paris Conservatoire two weeks before he turned ten.
In 1857 he shared a prize with Charles Lecoq in a competition organized by Jacques Offenbach for the operetta The Marvelous Doctor and received the Prix de Rome, which allowed him to live in Rome for a period three years, composing music and pursuing his education. The reporting work (the writing of which was mandatory for all laureates of the Rome Prize) was the opera “Don Procopio”. With the exception of a period spent in Rome, Bizet lived his entire life in Paris.
After a stay in Rome, he returned to Paris, where he devoted himself to writing music. In 1863 he wrote the opera The Pearl Fishers. During the same period, he wrote “The Beauty of Perth”, music for Alphonse Daudet’s play “La Arlesienne” and a piece for piano “Child’s Games”. He also wrote the romantic opera Djamile, usually regarded as the predecessor to Carmen. Bizet himself forgot about it, and the symphony was not remembered until 1935, when it was discovered in the library of the conservatory. When first presented, this work received praise from the early romantic period. The symphony is remarkable for its stylistic similarity to the music of Franz Schubert, which was almost unknown in Paris at the time, except perhaps for a few songs. In 1874-1875, the composer worked on Carmen. The opera premiered at the Opera-Comique theater in Paris on March 3, 1875 and ended in failure. Bizet did not complete his Second Symphony, Rome.
Essays (full list)
Operas
- "Anastasi and Dmitry"
- “Don Procopio” (opera buffa, in Italian, 1858-1859, staged 1906, Monte Carlo), also orchestrated by Leonid Feigin
- “Love the Artist” (French L’Amour peintre, libretto by Bizet, after J.B. Molière, 1860, not finished, not published)
- "Guzla Emir" (comic opera, 1861-1862)
- “The Pearl Seekers” (French Les Pecheurs de perles, 1862-63, staged 1863, Théâtre Lyric, Paris)
- “Ivan the Terrible” (French: Ivan le Terrible, 1865, staged 1946, Mühringen Castle, Württemberg)
- "Nicholas Flamel" (1866?, fragments)
- “The Beauty of Perth” (French: La Jolie fille du Perth, 1866, staged 1867, “Théâtre Lyricique”, Paris)
- “The Cup of the King of Thule” (French: La Coupe du roi de Thule, 1868, fragments)
- "Clarissa Garlow" (comic opera, 1870-1871, fragments)
- "Calandal" (comic opera, 1870), Griselda (comic opera, 1870-71, unfinished)
- “Djamile” (comic opera, 1871, staged 1872, Opera Comique theater, Paris)
- "Don Rodrigo" (1873, unfinished)
- “Carmen” (dramatic opera, 1873-1874, staged 1875, Opera Comique theater, Paris; recitatives written by E. Guiraud, after Bizet’s death, for production in Vienna, 1875)
Operettas
- Anastasia and Dmitry
- Malbrough is going on a campaign (Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre, 1867, Athenaeum theater, Paris; Bizet owns the 1st act, the other 3 acts are by I. E. Legui, E. Jonas, L. Delibes)
- Sol-si-re-pif-pan (1872, Chateau d'eau Theater, Pa.
- Angel and Tobia (L’Ange et Tobia, circa 1855-1857)
- Héloïse de Montfort (1855-1857)
- The Enchanted Knight (Le Chevalier enchant?, 1855-57)
- Erminia (1855-1857)
- The Return of Virginia (Le Retour de Virginie, circa 1855-1857)
- David (1856)
- Clovis and Clotilde (1857)
- Doctor Miracle (1857)
- Song to the Age (Carmen seculaire, after Horace, 1860)
- The Marriage of Prometheus (Les Noces de Promethee, 1867)
BORN TO CONQUER GEORGES BIZET
He entered the history of music thanks to one very popular work. Knowledgeable people say that such cases happen infrequently. Fate gave me such a chance Georges Bizet, who wrote a world-famous opera, but the same fate took a lot in return.
Bizet born in Paris 1838. He was called by the sonorous names of three commanders: Alexander - Caesar - Leopold, but in the family he was Georges. With this name Bizet went down in history, and the name given at birth always reminded of itself...
Child without childhood
Georges I liked to study music with both my father, a singing teacher, and my mother, a professional pianist. At the same time, like any boy, he wanted to run around the streets and play with other children. The parents thought differently. At the age of four, the boy already knew notes and could play the piano, and two weeks before his tenth birthday he entered the Paris Conservatory. Childhood ended before it began. At thirteen Georges started composing music.
My mother invariably brought her son to the conservatory in the morning and took him home after classes. Then everything was according to the script - they fed him, and then locked him in a room where Georges played the piano until he fell asleep from fatigue. The young musician tried to resist his mother and at the same time understood that her stubbornness and his 
talent produces results. Still, he liked literature more. "You grew up in musical family, - his mother said when she caught him reading, - and you will be a musician, not a writer. Outstanding!
Study Georges it was easy, he grasped everything on the fly. At nineteen Bizet He graduated from the conservatory and became the youngest laureate to receive the Grand Prix de Rome - for the cantata “Clovis and Clotilde”. The eternal city where Georges studied, became a source of inspiration, creative pursuits and love for him.
Georges Bizet's first love
Overweight and shortsighted, with curls that curled so tightly that it was difficult to comb them, Bizet did not consider himself attractive to women. He always spoke quickly, a little confusingly, and was sure that women did not like this manner of expression at all. He was also constantly sweating 
hands, which he was also terribly embarrassed about and blushed all the time.
With the funny and flirtatious Giuseppa Georges met in Italy and, of course, began to invite her to Paris. The young man was intoxicated with happiness and kept repeating: “I’m not rich, but making money is so easy. Two successful comic operas, and we will live like kings.”
The letter about his mother's illness took him by surprise. He left, having secured Giuseppa's promise to come as soon as his mother felt better. The father was grieving in one room, Georges to another. Money was needed to fight disease and poverty. If Georges I was able to write now brilliant work, which would bring him a lot of money, but it takes time, and he doesn’t have it.
"Temporary" work by Georges Bizet
I met with the owner of one of the most famous Parisian publishing houses, Antoine Choudan. He looked with surprise young man and couldn't believe what was sitting in front of him 
laureate of the prestigious Rome Prize, young genius. It was risky to bet on a novice composer, but the publisher understood well that the young man needed money and was ready to work, so he offered to arrange operas by famous composers for piano.
24/7 Bizet pored over other people's scores. He regularly received money, but there was never enough of it. “Write a symphony,” the mother repeated as if in delirium, “as soon as you do it, fame will find you.” But he didn’t have time for the symphony. The drafts multiplied, and despite his hard work, his debts grew every day. His mother died a year after his arrival...
The musical theater attracted the composer. He tried to go to all the premieres, but everything he wrote 
was not approved. The comic opera Don Procopio was not appreciated. A number of orchestral pieces that would later be included in the “Memories of Rome” cycle, too. Friends advised me to continue my career as a pianist, but Georges wanted to compose music and was sure that the chosen path would lead him to success. All that was left was to work, wait and endure the need.
In 1863, the premiere of the opera “The Pearl Fishers” took place. Critics noted the naturalness and beauty of the vocal parts, many expressive moments in the score - and that’s all. The opera was performed on stage 18 times and was removed from the repertoire. Everything came back: sleepless nights, other people's scores, music lessons. Pouring cold water, walking around the city, and visiting theaters helped prevent nervous exhaustion.
Love is a mockery
Once on the train I met Mogador - the opera diva Madame Lionel, the writer Celeste Venard, the Countess de Chabrilan. She spent her youth in brothels, then became a dancer, and then became interested in literature and began to describe what she knew about life in novels. Her books did not sit on the shelves. They tried not to talk about them in decent houses, but every Parisian knew about the existence of this woman. During a meeting with Bizet the lovely Mogador was a widow and the owner of a musical theater, where she sang the main roles.
Countess de Chabrilan
For the first time in a long time, my heart Bizet began to beat faster. He is twenty-eight, she is forty-two. All his hardships and sorrows were drowned in the unfeigned passion of this woman. The happiness was short-lived. Mogadors were plunged into mood swings Georges into despair. In a fit of anger, all the bad habits of the Mogadors woke up. Bizet with his delicate taste and vulnerable soul suffered. Mogador was getting old. She was haunted by financial troubles, and he could do nothing to help her. His income still barely paid the bills, and she had no need for his love. But break up with this woman Bizet was unable to. During another scandal, my beloved doused Georges a tub of cold water from head to toe. Bizet went out into the street, where the snow was quietly swirling.
"Quiet" happiness of Georges Bizet
Purulent tonsillitis was the doctors’ diagnosis. For a man who had suffered from colds and sore throats all his life, he took a great risk by returning on foot to that fateful day. Bizet I worked lying down and could hardly speak. But his physical suffering could not be compared with his mental suffering.
Jules Ellie Delaunay
The opera "The Beauty of Perth" was not a success. There was no money again. Bizet I almost didn’t believe in myself. He started work and put it off. The disease did not end, the poverty did not go away. In the spring of 1869, still weak after illness, he went for a walk. He walked past his teacher's house and was overcome by the desire to go where he felt good and calm. Here he met the teacher’s grown-up daughter.
Their romance was not swift. Finally, Georges made an offer. It seemed as if the sun had begun to shine into his long-suffering life. Genevieve took on household chores and cut expenses by surrounding Bizet such tenderness and care so that he could work again.
The family idyll was short-lived. Soon the wife got tired of her husband’s constant absences and his eternal busyness. The lesson that day was canceled, the student fell ill, and Bizet came home earlier than expected. His only desire was to sit down and start writing, because he had an order - the comic opera “Djamile”. Voices were heard in the dining room. His wife laughed, the male baritone echoed her...
"Carmen"
Prototype main character should become Mogador with her passion. The music that came from the pen did not give Bizet sleep. And finally, the premiere. The Paris Opera House is full. Bizet, standing behind the scenes, I was cold with fear. "Carmen" couldn't be another failure...
Galli-Marie, first performer of the role of Carmen
The first act is over. Cold reception, liquid claps. The production turned out to be very mediocre. Nobody appreciated the music. Genevieve could not stand it and left the hall. Bizet was crushed. He threw himself into the cold water of the Seine and fell down with a fever the next morning. Deafness set in, and my arms and legs went numb. Then it happened heart attack. The composer alternately regained consciousness and became delirious. He died at the age of 37 in 1875, less than four months before the enchanting success of Carmen at the Vienna Opera.
A year after the unsuccessful first production, the opera was staged triumphantly on almost all major stages in Europe. In 1878 he wrote: “I am convinced that in ten years Carmen will become the most popular opera in the world.”
And so it happened. The same fate awaited not only this opera by the composer. Most works Georges Bizet entered the Golden Fund of world classical music.
FACTS
Already at the age of nine he demonstrated extraordinary musical abilities, and therefore was enrolled at the Paris Conservatory, despite such a young age. After graduating from the conservatory, he became a professional composer, although he was only 19. One unsuccessful composer spoke with a grin about Bizet: “He who blooms early will fade early.” When these words were conveyed Bizet, he was not taken aback and replied: “Apparently, he himself is going to 
bloom no earlier than he turns seventy.”
Bizet He understood well the ephemeral nature of fame, and therefore did not value it very much. “Fame comes and goes, but the unknown remains...” the composer often said.
For its short, but enough rich life in the theater, I encountered different situations and suffered a lot from my colleagues. It is believed that he owns the phrase: “In music, everything is like in life: good musicians do not remember evil. The bad ones are good."
Updated: March 10, 2016 by: Elena
How else can you characterize the composer whom P.I. himself Tchaikovsky called him a genius, and called his work - the opera "Carmen" - a real masterpiece, imbued with genuine feeling and real inspiration. Georges Bizet - outstanding French composer, who worked in the era of romanticism. All of him creative path It was thorny, and life is a continuous obstacle course. However, despite all the difficulties and thanks to his extraordinary talent, the great Frenchman gave the world unique work, which became one of the most popular in its genre and glorified the composer for all time.
A short biography of Georges Bizet and many interesting facts Read about the composer on our page.
Brief biography of Bizet
On October 25, 1838, in Paris, on the street Tour d'Auvergne, a boy was born into the family of singing teacher Adolphe-Aman Bizet and his wife Aimée. loving parents named after three great emperors: Alexander Cesar Leopold. However, at baptism he received a simple French name Georges, which remained with him forever.
From the first days of his life, the child listened to a lot of music - these were his mother’s tender lullabies, as well as educational vocalizations of his father’s students. When the baby was four years old, Eme began to teach him musical notation, and at the age of five she sat her son at the piano. Bizet’s biography says that at the age of six, Georges was sent to school, where the inquisitive child became very addicted to reading, which, according to his mother, distracted the boy from his music lessons, which the boy had to sit for hours on end.
The phenomenal musical abilities that Georges possessed and his diligent studies bore fruit. After the audition, which caused surprised delight among the professors of the Paris Conservatory, the nine-year-old child was enrolled as a volunteer in the prestigious educational institution to the class of the famous A. Marmontel. Possessing a lively character, a curious and emotional student who grasped everything on the fly, the professor really liked him; working with him gave the teacher great pleasure. But the ten-year-old boy made progress not only in playing the piano. In the competition for solfeggio , demonstrating a phenomenal ear for music and memory, he earned first prize and was honored to receive free additional lessons in instrument and composition with the outstanding P. Zimmerman.
Georges's conservatory training as a performer was nearing its end, and the path of a concert musician was opening up before him, although the young man was not at all interested in this prospect. Since P. Zimmerman began studying composition with him, the young man had a new dream: to compose music for the theater. Therefore, after completing a piano course with A. Mormontel, Georges immediately entered the composition class of F. Halévy, under whose guidance he composed a lot and enthusiastically, trying himself in various musical genres. In addition, Bizet enthusiastically studied in the organ class of Professor F. Benois, where he achieved significant results, first winning the second and then the first prize at the Conservatory in performance on the instrument.
In 1856, at the convincing insistence of F. Golevy, Georges took part in the competition of the Academy of Fine Arts. The first, the so-called Rome Prize, gave young talent the opportunity to train for two years in the Italian capital and a year in the German capital. At the end of this practice, the young author was given the right to premiere a one-act theatrical musical composition in one of the theaters in France. Unfortunately, this attempt was not entirely successful: no one was awarded the first prize this time. But luck accompanied the young composer in another creative competition, which was announced by Jacques Offenbach. For his theater, located on the Boulevard Montmartre, for advertising purposes, he announced a competition to create a small comedy musical performance with a limited number of performers. The winner was promised gold medal and a bonus of one thousand two hundred francs. “Doctor Miracle” was the name of the operetta presented by the eighteen-year-old composer to the respected jury. The commission's decision: to divide the prize between two competitors, one of whom was Georges Bizet.
This victory not only introduced the French public to the name of the young composer, but also opened the door for him to the famous Offenbach “Fridays”, where only a select few were invited creative personalities, and where he had the honor of being introduced to G. Rossini himself. Meanwhile, the next annual competition of the Academy of Arts for the Rome Prize was approaching, for which Georges was intensively preparing, composing the cantata “Clovis and Clotilde.” This time it was a triumph - he won the first prize in musical composition and together with the other five laureates, on December 21, 1857, he went to the Eternal City to improve his skills.
Italy
In Italy, Georges traveled around the country, admiring beautiful nature and works fine arts, read a lot, met interesting people. And he loved Rome so much that he tried in every possible way to stay here, for which he even wrote a letter to the French Minister of Education asking for permission to spend the third year not in Germany, but in Italy, to which he received a positive response. This was a period of a complex stage of human and creative formation a young composer whom Georges later called the happiest and most carefree in his life. For Bizet these were wonderful years of creative quest and first love. However, the young man still had to leave Rome two months ahead of schedule, as he received a letter from Paris with the news of the illness of his beloved mother. For this reason, at the end of September 1860, Bizet returned to Paris.
Return to homeland
The young man’s hometown did not greet him well. Georges' carefree youth was over, and he now had to think about how to earn money for his daily bread. Gray everyday life began, which was filled with boring routine work for him. Bizet earned money by giving private lessons, and also, at the request of the owner of the famous Parisian publishing house A. Shudan, he was engaged in transcribing orchestral scores of works by famous composers for piano and composing entertaining music. Friends advised Georges to take up performing activities, because while still studying at the conservatory, he was known as a virtuoso musician. However, the young man understood that a career as a pianist could bring him quick success, but at the same time it would prevent him from realizing his lifelong dream of becoming an opera composer.
Bizet had many problems: it was necessary to submit the ode-symphony “Vasca da Gama” - another second report to the Academy of Arts and, in addition, he, as a Rome laureate, needed to write a funny one-act opera for the Opera-Comique theater. The libretto was provided to him, but the cheerful melodies for “Guzla Emir,” as the play was called, were not born at all. And how could they appear when the most beloved person and best friend was in serious condition. On September 8, 1861, Georges' mother died. One irreparable loss followed another. Six months later, not just a teacher passed away, but Bizet’s mentor and supporter, Fromental Halévy. Depressed by the loss of loved ones, Georges, in order to somehow distract himself, tried even harder to go to work, but as a result he received nervous strain and loss of strength.
Throughout 1863, Bizet worked on a new opera " Pearl divers", and in 1864 he helped his father build housing on a forest plot acquired by Adolphe-Aman in Vezina. Now Georges has the opportunity to spend every summer in nature. Here he composed “Ivan the Terrible” with great enthusiasm, and in 1866 “The Perth Beauty”. In 1867, Bizet was offered to work as a music columnist in one of the Parisian magazines. He published an article under the pseudonym Gaston de Betsy, which was truly well received, but, unfortunately, it was the first and the last.
At the same time, significant changes occur in Georges' personal life: he passionately falls in love with the daughter of his late teacher F. Halévy. Genevieve's mother and immediate relatives were against such a union, considering the composer an unworthy match for a girl, but Bizet was quite persistent, and as a result, on June 3, 1869, the young couple got married. Georges was unusually happy; he protected his young wife, who was twelve years younger than him, in every possible way, and tried to please her in everything.
Dangerous times
In the summer of the following year, the Bizet couple went to Barbizon for four months, a place very popular with people of art. The composer intends here to work fruitfully on “Clarissa Harlowe”, “Calendal”, “Griselda”, however, due to the Franco-Prussian War that began in July, Georges’ plans could not be realized. The government announced a widespread call for the National Guard. Bizet did not escape this fate; he even underwent military training, but as a Rome scholar he received exemption from military service and left for Barbizon to pick up his wife and return to Paris, where the republic was again proclaimed on September 4. The situation in the capital became more complicated due to the Prussian siege: famine began in the city. Relatives suggested that Georges move to Bordeaux for a while, but he stayed and, to the best of his ability, helped the defenders of Paris as best he could, patrolling in the city and on the ramparts.
Bizet and Genevieve left the city only after the capitulation was announced in January 1871 and the blockade was lifted. First they visited relatives in Bordeaux, then moved to Compiegne, and waited out the end of the troubled times of the Paris Commune in Wiesen. Returning to the capital at the beginning of June, Bizet immediately began work on his new composition - the opera “Djamile”, the premiere of which took place on May 22, 1872. And two and a half weeks later, a joyful event occurred in the composer’s life - Genevieve gave him a son. Inspired by such happiness, Georges delved deeper into his work and gladly accepted the offer to saturate A. Daudet’s dramatic performance “The Arlesian” with good music. The premiere of the production, unfortunately, failed, but less than a month later, Bizet’s composition for the drama, which he transformed into a suite, performed at one of the concerts, was a stunning success. Georges was soon disappointed again: at the end of October 1873, the composer was informed that the building Bolshoi Opera, where the premiere of his opera “Cid” was soon to take place, burned to the ground and all performances are transferred to the Ventadur Hall, which is not suitable for such a production. However, three months later, Bizet’s name was again on everyone’s lips: the first and then subsequent performances of his dramatic overture “Fatherland” were a great triumph.
The composer's last work
The composer spent the entire 1874 working on a piece that his friends recommended to him. From the very beginning, many things confused Bizet: how can an opera be staged on the stage of the Opera-Comique theatre? tragic ending, and this is exactly how P. Merimee’s short story “Carmen” ended. Some even suggested changing the ending, since the author of the work had been dead for more than three years. But the worst thing is how the audience will perceive the performance of people from the lower class on stage. Despite everything, the composer enthusiastically began creating a work that would later become a masterpiece for all time. As soon as the long-awaited premiere was scheduled for March 3, 1875, rumors spread throughout the city about an impending theatrical scandal. The first act was received quite warmly, but after the second act some of the audience left the hall. When the third act ended, Bizet, in response to pitiful congratulations, publicly announced that it was a failure. The next day the Parisian newspapers announced " Carmen“Scandalous” and “immoral,” they wrote that Bizet had sunk very low, to the very bottom of the social spectrum.
The second performance took place a day later - on March 5, and was already greeted by the public not just warmly, but warmly, but the newspapers continued to discuss the failure for a whole week premiere show. In that theatrical season, Carmen was staged thirty-seven times in Paris, and not every play lasted so many performances. Due to the failure of the premiere, Bizet suffered greatly, but to this were added moral torment caused by a quarrel with his wife, as well as physical torment due to chronic tonsillitis and rheumatism. At the end of May 1875, Georges and his entire family left Paris and headed to Bougival in the hope that he would feel better in nature. However better for the composer passed away, constant attacks completely exhausted him, and on June 3 the doctor declared the death of Georges Bizet.
Interesting facts about Georges Bizet
- The composer's father, Adolphe Aman Bizet, before meeting Anna Leopoldine Aime, née Delsart, Georges' mother, had the profession of a hairdresser, but before the wedding he changed his occupation, retraining as a singing teacher, thereby becoming a “man of art”, as demanded by the bride’s family .
- The boy Georges lived according to a strict schedule: in the morning he was taken to the conservatory, then after classes he was brought home, fed and locked in the room where he studied until he fell asleep from fatigue right at the instrument.
- Baby Bizet was so keen on reading since childhood that his parents had to hide books from him. At the age of nine, the boy dreamed of becoming a writer, considering it much more interesting than sitting at the piano all day.
- From Bizet’s biography we learn that, despite his talent, the young prodigy very often quarreled with his parents over music studies, he cried and was angry with them, but from childhood he realized that his abilities and his mother’s perseverance would give results that would help him in later life.
- Awarded a Rome scholarship, Georges Bizet not only traveled a lot, but also met different people. Often attending receptions at the French Embassy, he met there interesting person– Ambassador of Russia Kiselyov Dmitry Nikolaevich. A strong friendship began between the twenty-year-old youth and the almost sixty-year-old dignitary.
- Georges Bizet's uncle, Francois Delsarte, was at one time a famous singing teacher in Paris, but he gained great fame as the inventor of a unique system of “staging the aesthetics of the human body,” which later gained its followers. Some art historians believe that F. Delsarte is a person who largely predetermined the development of art of the 20th century. Even K.S. Stanislavsky recommended using his system for the initial training of actors.
- Bizet's contemporaries spoke of him as a sociable, cheerful and kind person. Always working hard and selflessly, he nevertheless loved to have fun with friends, being the author of all sorts of mischievous ideas and funny jokes.
- While still studying at the conservatory, Georges Bizet became known as a skilled pianist. Once in the presence Franz Liszt he performed so masterfully technically complex work composer, which delighted the author: after all, the young musician easily played puzzling passages at the right tempo.
- In 1874, Georges Bizet for his significant contribution to the development of musical art was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government.
- After the first disastrous premiere, A. Daudet’s drama “The Arlesian” returned to the stage only ten years later. The play had already enjoyed undoubted success among the audience, although contemporaries noted the fact that the audience went to the play more to listen to the music of J. Bizet that adorned it.
- J. Bizet's opera "Ivan the Terrible" was never staged during the composer's lifetime. Contemporaries even said that the composer burned the score out of resentment, but the work was still discovered, but only in the late thirties of the last century in the archives of the conservatory and staged for the first time in a concert version in occupation Paris in 1943 at the theater on the Boulevard des Capucines. The organizers of the performance tried to ensure that there was not a single German among the audience, since an opera written on a Russian plot could cause them great irritation, especially since the turning point in World War II had already taken place not in favor of Germany. J. Bizet's opera “Ivan the Terrible” was never staged in Russia, since many historical facts in it were greatly distorted.
- Immediately after the death of J. Bizet, all the composer's manuscripts listed in the will were transferred to the library of the Paris Conservatory. However, many more of his papers and manuscripts were discovered by the executor of Emil Strauss (the second husband of the widow of J. Bizet), Mr. R. Sibyla, who, having determined the value of these documents, also immediately sent them to the conservatory archives. Therefore, descendants became acquainted with many of the composer’s works only in the 20th century.
- Georges Bizet had two sons. The elder Jean appeared from a casual relationship with the maid of the Bizet family, Maria Reiter. The second son, Jacques, was born in marriage with Genevieve, née Golevy.
On July 8, 2017, we decided to go to the Carla Felicci Theater in Genoa to see the BALLET "Carmen" to the music of J. Bizet.
I always believed that there was only the opera "Carmen" to the music of Bizet.
There was a reason to talk about the wonderful French composer.
Bizet (Bizet) Georges born in Paris on October 25, 1838. His father is a singing teacher, his mother is a pianist (she was Bizet’s first music teacher).
Georges I liked to study music with both my father, a singing teacher, and my mother, a professional pianist. At the same time, like any boy, he wanted to run around the streets and play with other children. The parents thought differently. At the age of four, the boy already knew notes and could play the piano, and two weeks before his tenth birthday he entered the Paris Conservatory. Childhood ended before it began. At thirteen Georges started composing music.
In 1848-57 he studied at the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with A. F. Marmontel (piano), F. Benois (organ), P. Zimmermann and C. Gounod (counterpoint), F. Halévy (composition; Halévy’s daughter Genevieve became Bizet's wife in 1869).
Learn Georges it was easy, he grasped everything on the fly. At nineteen Bizet graduated from the conservatory and became the youngest laureate to receive the Grand Prix de Rome - for the cantata “Clovis and Clotilde”. This award provided the opportunity to travel to Italy for 4 years and receive a state scholarship.In Italy, Bizet, enchanted by the fertile southern nature, monuments of architecture and painting, worked a lot and fruitfully (1858-60). He studies art, reads many books, and comprehends beauty in all its manifestations. The ideal for Bizet is the beautiful, harmonious world of Mozart and Raphael. Truly French grace, generous melodic gift, and subtle taste have forever become integral features of the composer's style. Bizet is increasingly attracted to operatic music, which can “merge” with the phenomenon or hero depicted on stage. Instead of the cantata, which the composer was supposed to present in Paris, he writes the comic opera Don Procopio, in the tradition of G. Rossini.
In 1860 he completed the symphony-cantata "Vasco da Gama" (after epic poem"The Lusiads" by L. Camões). That same year he returned to Paris, where to earn money he was forced to give private lessons and write dance music and engage in transcriptions of other people's works.
The return to Paris was associated with the beginning of serious creative quests and at the same time hard, routine work for the sake of a piece of bread. Bizet has to make transcriptions of other people's opera scores, write entertaining music for cafe concerts and at the same time create new works, working 16 hours a day. "I'm working like a black man, I'm exhausted, I'm literally torn apart... I've just finished romances for a new publisher. I'm afraid it turned out mediocre, but I need money. Money, always money - to hell!"
Bizet returned to Paris at the end of September 1860. The series of events in his life turned out to be much more tragic than his expectations.
Georges Bizet - Ernest L'Epin
Paris, autumn 1860“My mother is seriously ill. We have lost all hope of saving her. I don't have time for anything but tears. How bitter my return home is and how hateful Paris is to me.”
A year after Bizet returned to Paris, Aimé Bizet, his mother, was perhaps his most close friend passed away. Trying to somehow cope with the irreparable loss, Bizet tried to delve into his work. As a report to the Academy, he submitted the ode-symphony “Vasco da Gama”, almost completed in Italy, the symphonic plays “Scherzo” and “Funeral March”, agreed with one of the librettists of “Doctor Miracle” Ludovic Halevi - the nephew of his teacher F. Halevi - on the creation of a libretto for a comic opera. But after a few weeks he realized that creating slapstick music was out of the question.
Georges Bizet to Ludovic Halévy
Paris, October 1860“I can’t even think about writing... The death of my mother caused me the greatest grief... But I do not lose hope of working together with you.”
This hope will become a reality in Carmen.Six months after the death of his mother, Bizet faced a new blow. His teacher, composer Fromental Halévy, died. Bizet was his favorite student, and the death of the master seemed to deprive him of his last support in opera world France. Friendly support Bizet was then favored by Charles Gounod. But somehow she didn’t seem completely disinterested. Bizet was literally inundated with rough work on editions and productions of Gounod's operas.
In 1863, Bizet’s opera “The Pearl Fishers” was staged in Paris with an oriental plot that was then fashionable. Despite some melodically expressive numbers (the famous romance of Nadir from Act 1), the opera as a whole was not successful with the public, but received an approving review from G. Berlioz.
Listen to this romance performed by Placido Domingo. What divine music!
You can listen to the entire opera
And I want to present to you the Duet-memory of Nadir and Zurga “And there, among the flowers” is full of enthusiastic feeling; a smooth melody in an oriental spirit sounds against the backdrop of a magically transparent orchestral accompaniment.
The plot of the opera is quite simple: Zurga and Nadir love the same girl. In order not to become enemies, they part. Their beloved, Leila, took a vow of chastity; she became a priestess, helping pearl seekers with her singing. Zurga is elected leader, and Nadir returns. He realizes that he still loves Leila. Her heart has not yet cooled down either. Nadir strives to take her out of the temple on top of the cliff. As soon as he enters the temple, he is captured by order of the priest Nurabadu. Zurga wants to save her friend, but after learning that the priestess who broke her vow is Leila, she decides not to interfere. But suddenly he learns from Leila’s necklace that it was she who once saved his life, and distracts the attention of the villagers by setting their huts on fire. Nadir and Leila manage to escape. By order of the priest, Zurga is thrown into the fire.
“The Pearl Fishers” was the first opera that the Parisian Lyric Theater commissioned for the young composer, in mid-19th century centuries - main theater French capital. Bizet composed the opera quickly. It was written in just a few months. After the premiere, Hector Berlioz wrote that the opera's score "contains many wonderful expressive moments, full of fire and rich color." “Pearl Finders” captivates with its melodic richness and dramatic expressiveness.
“Pearl Seekers” was first presented to audiences in September 1863 at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris. During the composer's lifetime, The Searchers had no fans, as did other operas.
The next opera, “The Beauty of Perth” (based on the novel of the same name by W. Scott, 1867), was also received with restraint.
In 1867, Bizet published (under the pseudonym Gaston de Betzy) a polemical article “Conversation on Music” (“Causerie musicale”) - a kind of artistic manifesto, where he demanded spontaneity and truthfulness from the composer.
The success of these operas was not so great as to strengthen the position of the author. Self-criticism and a sober awareness of the shortcomings of “The Perth Beauty” became the key to Bizet’s future achievements. He wrote about his opera “The Beauty of Perth”: “This is a spectacular play, but the characters are poorly outlined... The school of hackneyed roulades and lies is dead - dead forever! Let’s bury her without regret, without worry - and move on!” A number of plans of those years remained unfulfilled.
He is 30 years old, but Georges is not yet married. Overweight and shortsighted, with curls that curled so tightly that it was difficult to comb them, Bizet did not consider himself attractive to women. He always spoke quickly, a little confusingly, and was sure that women did not like this manner of expression at all. The first time he met a two-room apartment was in Italy, but she did not follow him to France. The next attempt was when the young man was 28 years old.One day on the train Georges Bizet met Mogador - opera diva Madame Lionel, writer Celeste Venard, Countess de Chabrilan. She spent her youth in brothels, then became a dancer, and then became interested in literature and began to describe what she knew about life in novels. Her books did not sit on the shelves. They tried not to talk about them in decent houses, but every Parisian knew about the existence of this woman. During a meeting with Bizet the lovely Mogador was a widow and the owner of a musical theater, where she sang the main roles.He is twenty-eight, she is forty-two. All his hardships and sorrows were drowned in the unfeigned passion of this woman. The happiness was short-lived. Mogadors were plunged into mood swingsGeorges into despair. In a fit of anger, all the bad habits of the Mogadors woke up. Bizet with his delicate taste and vulnerable soul suffered. Mogador was getting old. She was haunted by financial troubles, and he could do nothing to help her. His income still barely paid the bills, and she had no need for his love. But break up with this woman Bizet was unable to. During another scandal, my beloved doused Georges a tub of cold water from head to toe. Bizet went out into the street, where the snow was quietly swirling.
“...I met an amazing girl whom I adore!”- letter to Bizet in 1867. Who is this adorable girl? This is Genevieve Halévy, daughter of Bizet's teacher Fromental Halévy, now deceased. It is worth saying a few words about the Halevi family. This is a wealthy, influential family. Its members: banker, financier, historian (this is Leon Halévy, a member of the French Academy), learned Talmudist (Genevieve’s grandfather), religious researcher (Genevieve’s uncle Hippolyte Rodrigue), famous opera composer(Fromental Halévy), famous playwright and librettist (his nephew, Geneviève's cousin) Louis Halévy. Genevieve's mother, Leonie Halévy, is a very peculiar lady. In her youth she was a socialite, later she became an art collector and a talented sculptor (one of her works is kept in the Versailles Museum, another - a sculptural portrait of her husband - in the Paris City Hall).
Of course, such a family is in no hurry to become related to the unsuccessful composer Georges Bizet.
Georges Bizet - Edmond Galabert
October 1867“...I was deeply depressed. The hopes I had so cherished were shattered. - The family objected. I'm very unhappy."
November 1867
“Perhaps all is not lost yet...”
This state - “all is not lost yet” - lasted about a year and a half. The family reflected, either giving Genevieve and Georges, who were in love with each other, some kind of hope, then taking it away. Finally, Genevieve's stubbornness and Bizet's patience were rewarded.
Beginning of May 1869
“I’m telling you secretly. I'm getting married. We love each other. - I'm completely happy. We will be poor for a while, but what does it matter. Her dowry for now is 150,000 francs, later 500,000. Don’t tell anyone anything.”
So, a year and a half after the refusal, consent to the marriage was received. It is possible that an important role in this decision was played by the fact that F. Halévy’s operas are gradually disappearing from the stage, and the composer’s widow sees in Bizet a musician capable of prolonging their lives. At least in the marriage contract most Genevieve's dowry is associated with receiving royalties from F. Halévy's operas and, in addition, Bizet's obligation, having urgently completed Halévy's unfinished opera Noah, is stipulated to achieve its production. (Bizet completed the opera, but it did not reach the stage during his lifetime.) However, then, signing marriage contract, the lover Bizet does not delve too deeply into all this operatic and financial casuistry.
Georges Bizet - Hippolyte Rodrigue
June 1869“I am incredibly happy, Genevieve is amazingly good. We are in love with each other and we love you for making our life together possible.”
Hippolyte Rodrigue is the only one from the Halevi clan who sympathized with this marriage. The wedding posed the problem of faith for the future spouses for the families of Bizet and Genevieve. But when asked to convert to Catholicism (the zealous Catholic Gounod advocated this), Genevieve replied: “I’m not so religious as to change religion.” It was decided to abandon the church marriage. For Bizet this did not matter. The appearance of Genevieve in his life was for him a “meeting with a miracle.” He saw in his wife the embodiment of an ideal, “open to everything bright, to all changes, not believing in either the God of the Jews or the God of Christians, but believing in honor, duty and morality.”Louis Halévy. Diary.“Today Genevieve became Bizet’s wife. How happy she is, poor and dear child! How many disasters have surrounded it in recent years! How much grief and how much loss. If anyone has the right to ask life for a little peace and happiness, it is Genevieve. Bizet has intelligence and talent. He will succeed."
Later, facts became obvious to Bizet that completely discouraged him. His wife's mother suffers from recurring bouts of insanity. Her husband F. Halevi left his wife more than once and returned again. In the first year of marriage, he reached complete nervous exhaustion. Mental instability, severe depression and neuroses are also characteristic of her daughter. (Proust’s biographer called Genevieve “the queen of neurasthenia.”) Genevieve’s childhood was not happy. She repeatedly ran away from home and lived with some relatives and then with others. Perhaps this determined the daughter’s relationship with her mother. Her daughter loved her, but only from afar. Communication with her mother was torment for her. If Leonie Halévy appeared at Bizet’s house, her daughter would become hysterical. Bizet, who loved his wife and treated his mother-in-law without any hostility, found himself between two fires.
These two women constantly claimed the composer's time and peace of mind. Added to all this was a cold, suspicious attitude towards any action of Bizet on the part of almost all of his wife’s relatives. Life sometimes turned into hell. And the fact that in all these situations Bizet managed, showing patience and calm prudence, to never allow himself to be thrown off balance is a simply amazing fact. It is not for us to condemn the woman whom Bizet loved. But, reflecting on his post-wedding life, it is difficult to dispute the gloomy conclusion of biographer Bizet Savinov, “On June 3, 1869, he married Geneviève Halévy. The clock was started. Exactly six years later - to the day - he was gone.”
In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, when France was in a critical situation, Bizet joined the ranks of the National Guard. A few years later, his patriotic feelings found expression in the dramatic overture “Motherland” (1874). 70s - the flourishing of the composer's creativity. In 1872, the premiere of the opera “Djamile” (based on the poem by A. Musset) took place, which subtly transformed; Arabic intonation folk music. It was a surprise for visitors to the Opera-Comique theater to see a work telling about selfless love, full of pure lyricism. True music connoisseurs and serious critics saw in “Jamila” the beginning of a new stage, the opening of new paths.In the works of these years, the purity and grace of style (always inherent in Bizet) by no means interfere with the truthful, uncompromising expression of the drama of life, its conflicts and tragic contradictions. Now the composer’s idols are V. Shakespeare, Michelangelo, L. Beethoven.
1870s - heyday creative activity composer who focused on music for the theater. The opera “Djamile” (based on the poem “Namuna” by A. de Musset, staged in 1872, Paris) is devoid of conventionally “oriental” features; using authentic Arabic melodies, Bizet subtly recreated national color(the opera takes place in Cairo). The pinnacle of Bizet’s creativity is the music for A. Daudet’s drama “La Arlesienne” (1872, Vaudeville Theater, Paris; on its basis Bizet composed a suite, 1872; the so-called 2nd suite from “La Arlesienne” was composed by Bizet’s friend, the composer E. . Giro, 1885)
1875 - Carmen
Before talking about music, listen to this great opera, which, ironically, was the last opera of J. Bizet, who was only 37 years old.
Bizet- "Carmen". State Academic Bolshoi Theater of the USSR. 1982 Georges Bizet - "Carmen". Classical production Bolshoi Theater famous opera Georges Bizet. Stage director and choreographer: Rostislav Zakharov. Conducted by Mark Ermler. The main parties are executed: Carmen - Elena Obraztsova, Don Hose - Vladimir Atlantov, Escamillo - Yuri Mazurok, Michael - Lyudmila Sergienko, Fraskita - Irina Zhurina, Mercedes - Tatyana Tugarinova, Morales - Igor Morozov, Remendado - Andrey Sokolov, Dankayro - Vladislav Pashinsky, Vladislav Pashinsky, Vladislav Pashinsky, Vladislav Pashinsky, Tsuniga - Yuri Korolev.
The prototype of Carmen is Mogadar, whom we talked about - she was 42 years old and he was 28. Bizet sincerely fell in love with her, and Mogadar laughed at his love. She acted cruelly to Georges in the presence of her relatives, driving out and ridiculing the young man. Mogadar herself suffered mental trauma as a child; her mother’s husband raped the girl and constantly threatened her; Having gone to a brothel, she gained strength and the ability to attract men...
She understood that she was getting old and Bizet was young. By expelling Bizet from her life, she hurt Georges' pride. He was very worried about the separation. But - c’est la vie, as the French say! Fate brings great people together so that they can be inspired by the Muse.
Brief summary of the opera.
Carmen is a beautiful, hot-tempered, temperamental gypsy who works in a cigarette factory. Because of a fight that broke out among the factory workers, Carmen was arrested and taken to the police station. There she languishes waiting for a warrant, and Sergeant Jose guards her. The gypsy was able to fall in love with him and persuade him to release him. Jose at that time had a fiancée, a good position and a single mother, but his meeting with Carmen turned his whole life upside down. He lets her go, and loses his job and respect, becoming a simple soldier.
Carmen continues to have fun, visiting pubs and collaborating with smugglers. Along the way, he flirts with Escamillo, a famous handsome bullfighter. Jose, who raised his hand against his boss in the heat of a quarrel, has no choice but to stay with his Carmen and her friends who are illegally transporting goods. He loves her madly, he has long forgotten about his bride, but Carmen changes his feelings according to his mood, and Jose is bored with her. After all, Escamillo appeared on the horizon, rich and famous, who promised to fight in her honor. The ending is predictable and tragic. No matter how Jose begs Carmen to come back to him, she says in harsh terms that it’s all over. Then Jose kills his beloved so that no one gets her.
The final death scene against the backdrop of a public speech by Escamillo, who himself has already lost interest in Carmen, is the most memorable scene of the entire opera.
Few 19th-century operas can compare with this one: the world of music would be incomplete without Carmen (here you can watch Carmen on the stage of the Paris Opera), and Bizet would only have to write this opera to become Bizet. But this is not what the audience at the Opera Comique thought when, in 1875, they first received the opera with increasing indifference and even indignation. The most violent scenes and the realistic performance of Marie-Celestine Galli-Marier, performer leading role, which subsequently contributed to the approval of Bizet’s masterpiece on stage. During the premiere, Gounod, Thomas and Massenet were present in the hall, praising the author only out of politeness. The libretto, which the composer himself made changes several times, belonged to two masters of lung genre - Halevi ( cousin Bizet's wife) and Megliac, who initially entertained the public in collaboration with Offenbach, and then independently, creating comedies that were very much appreciated. They drew the plot from Mérimée’s short story (even earlier proposed to him by Bizet) and had to work hard to get him accepted into the Opera Comique, where love story with a bloody end and against a rather common background, caused considerable confusion. This theater, which, however, always tried to be less traditional, was visited by the well-meaning bourgeoisie, who used the performances to arrange the marriage affairs of their children. The variety of characters, mostly ambiguous, that Merimee introduced into his short story - gypsies, thieves, smugglers, cigar factory workers, women of easy virtue and bullfighters - did not contribute to the maintenance of good morals. The librettists managed to create a lively Spanish flavor, they highlighted several bright images, framing them with exquisite choirs and dances, and added to this rather dark company an innocent and pure character - young Michaela, who, although she remained outside the threshold of the action, made it possible to create a number of integral and touching musical pages.
The music embodied the librettists' vision with a precise sense of proportion; this music combined the sensitivity, ardor and strong flavor of Spanish folklore, partly authentic and partly composed, and was intended to give pleasure even to a hostile taste. But this did not happen. Nevertheless, despite the failure, Carmen lasted forty-five performances in the year of its premiere. This was a real record, which was certainly facilitated by curiosity and the desire to see a “scandalous” performance of its kind. After the thirty-fifth performance, there was also added shock caused by the death of the still young author, killed, as they said, by undeserved failure. The first signs of real approval for the opera appeared after the Viennese production in October of the same year (in which spoken dialogues were replaced by recitatives), which attracted the attention and approval of such masters as Brahms and Wagner. Tchaikovsky saw “Carmen” in Paris more than once throughout 1876 and wrote the following enthusiastic words in one of his 1880 letters to von Meck: “... I don’t know anything in music that has a greater right to represent an element that I call pretty, le joli... There are many piquant harmonies, completely new sound combinations, but all this is not an exclusive goal. Bizet is an artist who pays tribute to the century and modernity, but is warmed by true inspiration. And what a wonderful plot of the opera! I can’t play the last scene without tears!” And that some melodies and harmonies, as well as partly the instrumental color, subsequently influenced him - this is beyond any doubt: Bizet portrayed too well the passion flaring and raging in the soul of a beauty, as if spoiled by her own beauty - the beauty and depravity of the heroine feed flame of tragedy.
“Carmen” was received with hostility by the public, its “base” plot was considered immoral, its music was considered ugly; the performance was removed from the stage. Bizet died suddenly 3 months after the premiere. The triumphant success of the opera on the world stage began after the production in 1875 in Vienna, for which E. Guiraud replaced the spoken dialogues with recitatives and supplemented the 4th ballet numbers from the music to “La Arlesienne” and from “The Beauty of Perth”. In 1878, Carmen was first staged in Russia (St. Petersburg, in Italian), and in 1883 it was revived in Paris. P. I. Tchaikovsky became an admirer of Bizet, who found in “Carmen” “an abyss of harmonic courage.” “Carmen” still remains one of the most repertoire operas on the world stage.
The Russian premiere took place in 1885 ( Mariinsky Theater, conductor Napravnik, as Carmen Slavina). Carmen has enjoyed unprecedented popularity for over 100 years. Her fiery melodies: habanera “L'amour est oiseau rebelle”, couplets of the bullfighter “Votre toast”, heartfelt lyrical episodes (José’s aria “with a flower” from 2 d., etc.) are heard as well as the most popular folk and pop songs . In 1967, Karajan staged the film-opera “Carmen” with the participation of Bumbry, Vickers, and Freni. A new version of the opera was filmed in 1983 by F. Rosi (director Maazel, soloists Migenes-Johnson, Domingo, etc.). Among the productions recent years Let's note the 1996 performances at the Metropolitan Opera (Graves in the title role) and at the Mariinsky Theater (director Gergiev).
The opera premiered on March 3, 1875, three months before the composer's death. The premiere was a failure, friends turned away from the composer, Georges' wife left the hall arm in arm with her lover.
There is an assumption that Bizet died of a broken heart, and there is an assumption that he committed suicide.
Oh women, your name is “PERFORMANCE”!
It is interesting to note that the ballet Carmen, based on the story of the same name by Prosper Merimee, was first staged in 1845 under the title “Carmen and the Toreador” (French: “Carmen et son toréro”) by choreographer Marius Petipa at the Teatro del Circo in Madrid. But after the birth of Georges Bizet’s music in 1875, all subsequent performances were staged specifically to Bizet’s music for the opera “Carmen.” The famous French choreographer Roland Petit (French Roland Petit) staged the ballet “Carmen” on February 21, 1949. based on Bizet's opera, on tour in London, on a tour called “Les Ballets de Paris au Prince's Theatre”. The choreographer himself performed the part of Don José, and entrusted the part of Carmen to his wife Zizi Jeanmaire (Renée Jeanmaire), Escamillo was performed by Serge Perrault. Later, the role of Jose in the choreography of Roland Petit was performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Maya Plisetskaya turned to Dmitry Shostakovich with a request to write music for Carmen, but the composer refused, not wanting, according to him, to compete with Georges Bizet. Then she asked Aram Khachaturian about this, but was again refused. She was advised to contact her husband, Rodion Shchedrin, also a composer.
- Do it on Bizet! - said Alonso... The deadlines were pressing, the music was needed “yesterday”. Then Shchedrin, who was fluent in the profession of orchestration, significantly rearranged the musical material of Bizet's opera. Rehearsals began with the piano. The music for the ballet consisted of melodic fragments of the opera "Carmen" and the suite " big theater in Moscow (Carmen - Maya Plisetskaya). In 1970, I was able to watch this performance on the stage of the Bolshoi. I was impressed. The press wrote at the time:
“All of Carmen-Plisetskaya’s movements carried a special meaning, a challenge, a protest: a mocking movement of the shoulder, an outstretched hip, a sharp turn of the head, and a piercing glance from under her brows... It is impossible to forget how Carmen Plisetskaya - like a frozen sphinx - looked at the dance of the Toreador, and her entire static pose conveyed colossal internal tension: she captivated the audience, captivated their attention, unwittingly (or deliberately?) distracting them from the Toreador’s spectacular solo.
The new Jose is very young. But age itself is not an artistic category. And does not allow discounts for lack of experience. Godunov played age in subtle psychological manifestations. His Jose is wary and distrustful. Trouble awaits people. From life: - tricks. We are vulnerable and proud. The first exit, the first pose - a freeze frame, heroically held face to face with the audience. A living portrait of the fair-haired and light-eyed (in accordance with the portrait created by Mérimée) Jose. Large strict features. The wolf cub's gaze is sullen. Expression of aloofness. Behind the mask you guess the truth human essence- the vulnerability of the soul thrown into the World and hostile to the world. You contemplate the portrait with interest.
And so he came to life and “spoke.” The syncopated “speech” was perceived by Godunov accurately and organically. It was not without reason that he was prepared for his debut by the talented dancer Azary Plisetsky, who knew both the part and the entire ballet very well from his own experience. Hence the carefully worked out, carefully polished details that make up the stage life of the image."
THIS IS HOW WE GOT TO KNOW THE GREAT Georges Bizet.
I hope you liked it.
See you again!
(1838-1875) French composer
Georges Bizet was born on October 25, 1838 in Paris. First music lessons future composer received from his musician parents. The boy's outstanding abilities were revealed early: at the age of four he already knew music, and at nine he entered the Paris Conservatory. The boy's phenomenal hearing, memory, brilliant performing and composing abilities delighted his teachers. Bizet wanted to become a universal musician and even practiced playing the organ.
Even then his talent manifested itself in different areas musical creativity. While still at the conservatory, he composed a symphony, 3 operettas, several cantatas and overtures, as well as piano pieces(including a cycle of 12 pieces for 4 hands “Children’s Games”). Soon Bizet brilliantly graduated from the Paris Conservatory, where he studied famous composers C. Gounod and F. Halévy.
The young musician repeatedly received prizes at competitions at the conservatory, and upon completion of the course in 1857, he became a laureate of a competition in Rome and was awarded the right to spend 3 years in Italy to improve his music. For him it was a time of intense creative search. Bizet tried himself in various musical genres: he wrote symphonic suite, cantata, operetta, piano pieces, romances.
But, as it turned out, musical theater became his true calling. True, the path to creating your own original works was not easy. Upon returning from Italy, Bizet composed the opera “The Pearl Fishers” (1863) on an exotic plot telling about love drama Leila and Nadir, and then “The Beauty of Perth” (1867) based on the novel by Walter Scott. Both works were received coolly, but the composer did not give up his search. “I’m going through a crisis,” he said in those years.
New impressions caused by the events of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and the Paris Commune led to the creation of the lyrical opera “Djamile” (1872) based on the plot from the poem “Namuna” by A. de Musset. This opera marked the beginning of the composer's period of creative maturity.
Following the then fashionable passion for oriental exoticism, Bizet conveyed in his works the deep psychological experiences of the characters and showed himself to be a master of romantic opera. At the same time, he composed music for A. Daudet’s drama “The Arlesian”. Rich in colorful folk paintings, truthful and bright images heroes, she opened the way to the opera Carmen, which was the largest creative achievement Bizet and at the same time became his swan song.
Bizet began working on Carmen in 1873. Its plot is borrowed from the novella French writer Prosper Merimee, and the libretto was written by experienced writers A. Melyak and L. Halevi. Bizet boldly departed from the original and created a completely new work. “Carmen” is interesting not only for its realistic plot and romantic intrigue, but also for its bright, deep, dramatic music. The composer made the images of Merimee’s heroes deeper and more original, giving each of them a sharpened form musical characteristic. That is why “Carmen” still does not leave the world opera stage. According to P. I. Tchaikovsky, “Carmen” is destined to become the most popular opera in the world.”
Its premiere took place in March 1875. But, despite the fact that wonderful singers sang in the play, the production failed. Bright, expressive music was too unusual for the Parisian public. Bizet was shocked by what happened, because he had no doubt of success. Sudden illness broke him, and just three months after the premiere of Carmen, on June 3, 1875, he died in the Paris suburb of Bougival.
