Georges Bizet

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Biography

Born: 1838   Died: 1875   Country: France   Period: Romantic
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 on 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 more read letters, and 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 the greatest influence on him 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 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 dance-hall 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, and even if he did, 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, 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 only a few weeks to catch on, Bizet died convinced it was a failure. Read less

Featured Georges Bizet CDs & DVDs:

Triples - Bizet: Favourite Orchestral Works / Plasson, Et Al
Triples - Bizet: Favourite Orchestral Works / Plasson, Et Al
Release Date: 03/25/2008   Label: Emi Classics  
Catalog: 09414   Number of Discs: 3
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Bizet: Les Pecheurs De Perles / Plasson, Hendricks, Et Al
Bizet: Les Pecheurs De Perles / Plasson, Hendricks, Et Al
Release Date: 04/10/1990   Label: Emi Classics Special Import  
Catalog: 49837   Number of Discs: 2
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Bizet: Les Pecheurs De Perles / Cluytens, Angelici, Et Al
Bizet: Les Pecheurs De Perles / Cluytens, Angelici, Et Al
Release Date: 09/10/2002   Label: Emi Classics  
Catalog: 65266   Number of Discs: 2
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Bizet: Carmen / Garanca, Alagna, Nezet-Seguin, Metropolitan Opera
Bizet: Carmen / Garanca, Alagna, Nezet-Seguin, Metropolitan Opera
Release Date: 09/21/2010   Label: Deutsche Grammophon  
Catalog: 001431109   Number of Discs: 2
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Bizet: Carmen Suite, Etc; Offenbach, At Al / Munch, Et Al
Bizet: Carmen Suite, Etc; Offenbach, At Al / Munch, Et Al
Release Date: 01/23/1996   Label: London/Decca Double Decker  
Catalog: 443033   Number of Discs: 2
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Work: Carmen: Gypsy Song

Browse 1-25 of 84 Available Recordings
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  • 1.
    Icon: Maria Callas - La Divina
    Icon: Maria Callas - La Divina
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 23401 Release Date: 09/18/2012   Number of Discs: 6
    Composer:  Vincenzo Bellini,  Gaetano Donizetti,  Francesco Cilèa,  Umberto Giordano  ... 
    Performer:  Maria Callas,  Giuseppe Morresi,  Ebe Stignani,  Raffaele Arié  ... 
    Conductor:  Tullio Serafin,  Nicola Rescigno,  Georges Prêtre
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra,  Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus,  Philharmonia Orchestra  ... 
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  • 2.
    Best Soprano Arias 100
    Best Soprano Arias 100
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 80442 Release Date: 11/01/2011   Number of Discs: 6
    Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach,  George Frideric Handel,  Henry Purcell,  Jean-Philippe Rameau  ... 
    Performer:  Nancy Argenta,  Crispian Steele-Perkins,  Gudrun Jahn,  Barbara Hendricks  ... 
    Conductor:  Gyorgy Fischer,  Kirk Trevor,  Louis Langrée,  Bernard Haitink  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bavarian State Opera Orchestra,  Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra,  Paris National Opera Orchestra  ... 
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  • 3.
    From The Heart
    From The Heart
    Label: Universal   Catalog: 487 Release Date: 10/18/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ennio Morricone,  Francesco Sartori,  Léo Delibes,  Lucio Dalla  ... 
    Performer:  Simon Franglen,  Katherine Jenkins,  James Banbury,  Dame Kiri Te Kanawa  ... 
    Conductor:  Robert King,  Ralph Allwood,  Jenny O'Grady
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  • 4.
    Fiesta / Carmen Dragon, Hollywood Bowl SO
    Fiesta / Carmen Dragon, Hollywood Bowl SO
    Label: Emi Studio   Catalog: 63734 Release Date: 10/17/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Jules Massenet,  Georges Bizet,  Sebastián de Iradier,  Mikhail Glinka  ... 
    Conductor:  Carmen Dragon
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra
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  • 5.
    100 Best Soprano Arias
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 0828662 Release Date: 10/03/2011   Number of Discs: 6
    Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach,  George Frideric Handel,  Henry Purcell,  Jean-Philippe Rameau  ... 
    Performer:  Nancy Argenta,  Crispian Steele-Perkins,  Gudrun Jahn,  Barbara Hendricks  ... 
    Conductor:  Gyorgy Fischer,  Kirk Trevor,  Louis Langrée,  Bernard Haitink  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bavarian State Opera Orchestra,  Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra,  Paris National Opera Orchestra  ... 
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  • 6.
    Popular Opera Arias
    Popular Opera Arias
    Label: Berlin Classics   Catalog: 300250 Release Date: 09/13/2011   Number of Discs: 3
    Composer:  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Gioachino Rossini,  Gaetano Donizetti,  Giuseppe Verdi  ... 
    Performer:  Walter Berry,  Edith Mathis,  Hilde Gueden,  Reiner Süss  ... 
    Conductor:  Otmar Suitner,  Heinz Fricke,  Kurt Masur,  Siegfried Kurz  ... 
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  • 7.
    Bizet: Carmen - Highlights / Alagna, Gheorgiu, Et Al
    Bizet: Carmen - Highlights / Alagna, Gheorgiu, Et Al
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 94868 Release Date: 06/21/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Georges Bizet
    Performer:  Angela Gheorghiu,  David Alagna,  Inva Mula-Tchako,  Roberto Alagna  ... 
    Conductor:  Michel Plasson
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Toulouse Capitole Orchestra,  Les Elements Chamber Choir
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  • 8.
    The Opera Album 2011
    The Opera Album 2011
    Label: Decca   Catalog: 001566102 Release Date: 06/14/2011   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Georges Bizet,  Giacomo Puccini,  Ruggero Leoncavallo,  Alfredo Catalani  ... 
    Performer:  Bryn Terfel,  Anna Netrebko,  Andrea Bocelli,  Jonas Kaufmann  ... 
    Conductor:  Barry Wordsworth,  Gianandrea Noseda,  Zubin Mehta,  Antonio Pappano  ... 
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  • 9.
    New Year's Eve Concert 2010 / Garanca, Dudamel, Berlin Philharmonic
    New Year's Eve Concert 2010 / Garanca, Dudamel, Berlin Philharmonic
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 001529409 Release Date: 03/08/2011   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Hector Berlioz,  Camille Saint-Saëns,  Georges Bizet,  Manuel de Falla  ... 
    Performer:  Elina Garanca
    Conductor:  Gustavo Dudamel
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
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  • 10.
    Habanera / Elina Garanca
    Habanera / Elina Garanca
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 001477702 Release Date: 10/25/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Francisco Barbieri,  Georges Bizet,  Franz Lehár,  Michael Balfe  ... 
    Performer:  Elina Garanca,  Roberto Alagna,  Alessandro Milani,  J. M Gallardo Del Rey  ... 
    Conductor:  Karel Mark Chichon
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Italian Radio Symphony Orchestra Milan,  Turin Teatro Regio Chorus
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  • 11.
    Géori Boué - Recordings 1947-1955
    Géori Boué - Recordings 1947-1955
    Label: Hafg   Catalog: 10314 Release Date: 10/15/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Charles Gounod,  Hector Berlioz,  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  Giuseppe Verdi  ... 
    Performer:  Géori Boué
    Conductor:  Sir Thomas Beecham
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Symphony Orchestra
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  • 12.
    Bizet: Carmen Highlights / Troyanos, Domingo, Solti
    Bizet: Carmen Highlights / Troyanos, Domingo, Solti
    Label: Eloquence   Catalog: 4803520 Release Date: 04/20/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Georges Bizet
    Performer:  José Van Dam,  Placido Domingo,  Dame Kiri Te Kanawa,  Tatiana Troyanos
    Conductor:  Sir Georg Solti
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Philharmonic Orchestra,  John Alldis Choir
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  • 13.
    Regina Resnik - Opera Gala
    Regina Resnik - Opera Gala
    Label: London/Decca Grand Opera Series   Catalog: 421897 Release Date: 04/08/2010   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  George Forrest,  Franz Lehár,  Johann Strauss Jr.,  Richard Strauss  ... 
    Performer:  Ian Wallace,  Regina Resnik,  Waldemar Kmentt,  Birgit Nilsson  ... 
    Conductor:  Annuncio Paolo Mantovani,  Richard Bonynge,  Herbert von Karajan,  Sir Georg Solti  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Mantovani Orchestra,  National Philharmonic Orchestra,  Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra  ... 
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  • 14.
    Bizet: Carmen Highlights / Horne, Bernstein
    Bizet: Carmen Highlights / Horne, Bernstein
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 457901 Release Date: 06/19/2009   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Georges Bizet
    Performer:  Marcia Baldwin,  Colette Boky,  Marilyn Horne,  James McCracken  ... 
    Conductor:  Leonard Bernstein
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Manhattan Opera Chorus,  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra,  Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus
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  • 15.
    Serenade [cd/Dvd]
    Serenade [cd/Dvd]
    Label: Universal (Poland)   Catalog: 2705576 Release Date: 05/18/2009   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Ennio Morricone,  Georges Bizet,  Curly Putnam,  Giacomo Puccini  ... 
    Performer:  Katherine Jenkins
    On sale! $31.98
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  • 16.
    Katherine Jenkins - Serenade
    Katherine Jenkins - Serenade
    Label: Universal   Catalog: 001258402 Release Date: 02/17/2009  
    Composer:  Nicholas Brodszky,  Curly Putman,  Bryan Adams,  Charles Gounod  ... 
    Performer:  Katherine Jenkins
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  • 17.
    Airs, Melodies, Oratorios / Lucienne Delvaux, Et Al
    Airs, Melodies, Oratorios / Lucienne Delvaux, Et Al
    Label: Musique En Wallonie   Catalog: 739 Release Date: 11/25/2008   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Gaetano Donizetti,  Hector Berlioz,  Edouard Lalo,  Georges Bizet  ... 
    Performer:  Lucienne Delvaux
    Conductor:  Edgar Doneux,  Francis Travis,  Johannes den Hertog,  Jean Fournet  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Brussels Palace of Fine Arts Orchestra,  Brussels Belgian Radio & TV Philharmonic Orchestra,  Hilversum Radio Symphony Orchestra  ... 
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  • 18.
    The Complete Conchita Supervia Vol 3 - Parlophone And Odeon 1930-1932
    The Complete Conchita Supervia Vol 3 - Parlophone And Odeon 1930-1932
    Label: Marston   Catalog: 52060 Release Date: 10/12/2008   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Modesto Pomero,  Federico Longás Torres,  Juan Manén,  D'Hardelot  ... 
    Performer:  Conchita Supervia,  Pedro Vallribera,  Ivor Newton,  Alejandro Vilalta  ... 
    Conductor:  Paul Minssart,  Gustav Cloëz,  Unknown,  Antonio Capdevila
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Orchestra
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  • 19.
    Prima Donna - Leading Ladies Of Opera
    Prima Donna - Leading Ladies Of Opera
    Label: Kultur Video   Catalog: 4385 Release Date: 07/29/2008   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Giuseppe Verdi,  Camille Saint-Saëns,  Richard Strauss,  Georges Bizet  ... 
    Performer:  Edita Gruberova,  Shirley Verrett,  Catherine Malfitano,  Elizabeth Collier  ... 
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  • 20.
    Complete Recordings Of Marie Delna, Selected Recordings Of Jeanne Marié De L'isle
    Complete Recordings Of Marie Delna, Selected Recordings Of Jeanne Marié De L'isle
    Label: Marston   Catalog: 52056 Release Date: 05/12/2008   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Umberto Giordano,  Cécile Louise Chaminade,  Reynaldo Hahn,  Jules Massenet  ... 
    Performer:  Jeanne Marié De l'isle,  Léon Beyle,  Hector Dufranne,  Marie Delna  ... 
    CD: $36.99
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  • 21.
    Maria Callas Double Album
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 757293 Release Date: 03/04/2008  
    Composer:  Vincenzo Bellini,  Alfredo Catalani,  Giacomo Puccini,  Umberto Giordano  ... 
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  • 22.
    In My Element / Anne Sofie Van Otter
    In My Element / Anne Sofie Van Otter
    Label: Deutsche Grammophon   Catalog: 477707 Release Date: 03/03/2008   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Benny Andersson,  George Frideric Handel,  Claudio Monteverdi,  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  ... 
    Performer:  Fredrik Jonsson,  Magnus Persson,  Jörgen Stenberg,  David Björkman  ... 
    Conductor:  Marc Minkowski,  John Eliot Gardiner,  James Levine,  Giuseppe Sinopoli  ... 
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Les Musiciens du Louvre,  English Baroque Soloists,  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra  ... 
    CD: $14.99
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  • 23.
    The Edison Legacy Vol. 1
    The Edison Legacy Vol. 1
    Label: Marston   Catalog: 52042 Release Date: 02/12/2008   Number of Discs: 2
    Composer:  Umberto Giordano,  Amilcare Ponchielli,  Richard Wagner,  Giuseppe Verdi  ... 
    Performer:  Carolina White,  Edyth Walker,  Fritz Vogelstrom,  Domenico Viglione-Borghese  ... 
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  • 24.
    Georges Bizet: Carmen [highlights]
    Label: Emi Classics   Catalog: 353014 Release Date: 01/13/2008   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Georges Bizet
    Performer:  Roberto Alagna,  Ludovic Tézier,  Angela Gheorghiu,  Inva Mula-Tchako  ... 
    Conductor:  Michel Plasson
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Toulouse Capitole Orchestra
    CD: $13.99
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  • 25.
    Instant Classics - Bizet: Carmen (Highlights)
    Instant Classics - Bizet: Carmen (Highlights)
    Label: Naive   Catalog: 5103 Release Date: 11/20/2007   Number of Discs: 1
    Composer:  Georges Bizet
    Performer:  Franck Leguérinel,  Thierry Trégan,  Vincent Le Texier,  Christian Papis  ... 
    Conductor:  Alain Lombard
    Orchestra/Ensemble:  Bordeaux-Aquitaine National Orchestra
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