(1838-1875) French composer

Georges Bizet was born on October 25, 1838 in Paris. The future composer received his first music lessons from his musician parents. The boy's outstanding abilities were revealed early: at the age of four he already knew the notes, and at nine he entered the Paris Conservatory. The boy's phenomenal hearing, memory, brilliant performing and composing abilities delighted the teachers. Bizet wanted to become a universal musician and even played the organ.

Even then, his talent manifested itself in various areas of 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 in 4 hands "Children's Games"). Soon Bizet brilliantly graduated from the Paris Conservatory, where he was taught by the famous composers Ch. Gounod and F. Halévy.

The young musician repeatedly received prizes in competitions at the conservatory, and upon completing 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. It was a time of intense creative search for him. Bizet dabbled in various musical genres: he wrote a symphonic suite, cantata, operetta, piano pieces, romances.

But, as it turned out, musical theater became his true vocation. True, the path to creating your own original works was not easy. Upon his return from Italy, Bizet composed the opera Pearl Seekers (1863) based on an exotic plot, which tells the story of the love drama of Leila and Nadir, and then The Perth Beauty (1867) based on the novel by Walter Scott. Both works were received coolly, but the composer did not give up his searches. “I am 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 lyric opera "Jamile" (1872) based on the poem "Namun" by A. de Musset. The period of the composer's creative maturity began with this opera.

Following the then fashionable passion for oriental exoticism, Bizet conveyed in his works the deep psychological experiences of the heroes and showed himself to be a master of romantic opera. At the same time he composed music for A. Daudet's drama "Arlesienne". Rich in colorful folk paintings, truthful and vivid images of heroes, it opened the way to the opera "Carmen", which was Bizet's greatest creative achievement and at the same time became his swan song.

Bizet began working on Carmen in 1873. Its plot is borrowed from a short story by the French writer Prosper Mérimée, and the libretto was written by experienced writers A. Melyak and L. Halevy. Bizet boldly departed from the original and created a completely new work. "Carmen" is interesting not only for its realistic plot, romantic intrigue, but also for its bright, deep, dramatic music. The composer made the images of the heroes of Merimee deeper and more distinctive, gave each of them a musical characteristic perfected in form. That is why “Carmen” does not leave the world opera stage even now. According to PI 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. The bright, expressive music was too unusual for the Parisian public. Bizet was shocked by what had happened, because he did not doubt the success. A sudden illness broke him, and just three months after the premiere of "Carmen", on June 3, 1875, he died on the outskirts of Paris Bougival.

Biography of Georges Bizet - young years.
Georges Bizet was born in Paris on October 25, 1838. His full name is Alexander-Cesar-Leopold Bizet, but his family called him Georges. Georges Bizet was brought up in an atmosphere of love for music: his father and maternal uncle were singing teachers, and his mother played the piano. She became his first music teacher. Bizet's talent manifested itself at a very early age: from the age of four he knew notes.
At the age of ten, Bizet entered the Paris Conservatory, where he studied for nine years. Bizet's teachers were the most famous musical figures of France: A. Marmontel, P. Zimmermann, composers F. Halevy and C. Gounod. Although Bizet himself later admitted that he was much more attracted to literature, his musical studies were very successful: already during his studies, he wrote many musical compositions. Among them, the best work was a symphony, created by him at the age of 17, which is successfully performed to this day.
In the last year of his studies, Bizet composed a cantata on an ancient legendary plot, with which he took part in a competition for writing a one-act operetta, and which received an award. Bizet also received prizes at competitions for piano and organ playing, and his biggest award during his studies was the large Rome Prize for the cantata "Clovis and Clotilde", which gave him the opportunity to receive a state scholarship and four years of residence in Italy.
After graduating from the Conservatory, Bizet lived in Italy from 1857 to 1860. There he traveled a lot and was engaged in his education, got acquainted with the local life. At that time, the young composer was at a crossroads: he had not yet found his theme in musical creativity. However, he decided on the form of presentation of his future works - for this he chose theatrical music. He was interested in Parisian opera premieres and musical theater, partly for mercantile reasons, since in this area it was easier to succeed in those days.
During his stay in Italy, Bizet wrote the Vasco da Gama symphony-cantata and several orchestral pieces, some of which were later included in the Memories of Rome symphonic suite. The three years spent in Italy were quite a carefree time in the biography of Georges Bizet.
On his return to Paris, Bizet fell on hard times. It was not so easy to achieve recognition, and Bizet earned private lessons, wrote music to order in a light genre and worked with other people's compositions. Shortly after Bizet's arrival in Paris, his mother died. Constant overstrain, sharp declines in creative powers accompanying the composer throughout his life, became the reason for the short life of the genius composer.
But Bizet was not looking for easy ways to gain recognition. Although he could become an excellent pianist and more quickly achieve success in this field, he completely devoted himself to composing. "I do not want to do anything for external success, brilliance, I want to have an idea before starting any thing ..." - this is how Bizet himself wrote about his choice. The diversity of his creative ideas can be judged by the unfinished works found, which during his short life Bizet did not manage to complete, such as the opera Ivan the Terrible, found only in the 30s of our century.
In 1863, the premiere of Bizet's opera Pearl Seekers took place, which, although it survived eighteen performances, did not have much success. Another Bizet's opera, The Beauty of Perth, was written in 1867 and also did not receive public approval. Bizet himself was forced to agree with the opinions of critics and survive this crisis moment in his musical career. However, it was in "Perth Beauty" that the first features of Bizet's realism appeared, who sought to change the style of comic opera, endowing it with deep life conflicts and feelings.
This was followed by a difficult year in 1868 in the biography of Georges Bizet, when, in addition to serious health problems, he experienced a prolonged creative crisis. In 1869, Bizet married the daughter of his teacher, Genevieve Halévy, and in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Bizet enrolled in the National Guard, which could not but affect the young family and the composer's creative work.
Biography of Georges Bizet - mature years.
The 70s were the heyday of the creative biography of Georges Bizet. In 1871 he again begins to study music and composes the suite for piano "Children's Games".
Soon Bizet composed the one-act romantic opera Jamile, and in 1872 the premiere of Alphonse Daudet's play The Arlesienne took place. The music written by Bizet for this play entered the golden fund of world symphonic works and became a new milestone in Bizet's creative biography. The premieres of these plays were unsuccessful, despite the high merit of Bizet's music. Bizet himself considered the opera Jamile the beginning of his new path. "Jamile" was a confirmation of Bizet's creative maturity. It is believed that it was this work that led the composer to his opera masterpiece Carmen.
Despite the fact that "Carmen" was written for staging at the Comic Opera theater, it can only be formally attributed to this genre, since "Carmen" is, in fact, a musical drama in which the composer managed to vividly portray folk scenes and characters.
The premiere of "Carmen" took place in 1875 and was unsuccessful, which was very hard for the composer and greatly influenced his health. "Carmen" was appreciated after the death of Bizet and was recognized as the pinnacle of his work a year after the unsuccessful premiere. Pyotr Tchaikovsky called "Carmen a masterpiece, reflecting" to the strongest degree the musical aspirations of an entire era "and was convinced of the timeless popularity of opera.
The uniqueness of Georges Bizet's work was expressed not only in the high merits of his music, but also in his deep understanding of theatrical music.
Georges Bizet died on June 3, 1875 of a heart attack.

Georges Bizet. Carmen.

Georges Bizet Opera "Carmen" is the culmination of the entire work of the famous French composer Georges Bizet and one of the best operas in the world. Moreover, Carmen was the last opera written by Bizet: its premiere took place on March 3, 1875, three months before the composer's death. It is even believed that the composer's premature departure was precipitated by an incredible scandal around the opera: the audience considered the plot indecent, and the music too complex and imitative. The production was not only unsuccessful, it seemed, it was a huge failure.

The main heroine of the opera, Carmen, is one of the most brilliant operatic heroines. Passionate temperament, feminine attractiveness along with independence. This interpretation of the expressive image of Carmen bears little resemblance to the literary heroine taken as a basis. Carmen Georges Bizet is devoid of cunning, thieving, everything petty and ordinary. Bizet added to Carmen features of tragic greatness: at the cost of her own life, she proves her right to love and be loved. Perhaps it is this tragedy of the heroine that makes her so attractive to the audience.

The opera's music is full of amazing melodies, and the plot is extremely dramatic. There is so much life and authenticity in her that makes Carmen understandable and close to the viewer. Carmen is a unique masterpiece of opera music.

The plot of the opera "Carmen"

The main characters of the opera are the gypsy Carmen, Sergeant Don Jose, his fiancee Michaela and Georges Bizetoreador Escamillo. The main character is associated with smugglers, she seduces the sergeant, but, over time, feelings for him cool down, and Carmen falls in love with the bullfighter.

The complex twists and turns of the heroes' relationships, their mixed feelings create a multi-line plot, but it is in this intricacy that Carmen's sincerity and temperament, her independence and genuineness are manifested, and the whole gamut of complex relationships between the heroes is outlined. And the genius of Georges Bizet is that by musical means he so expressively demonstrated the inner integrity, purity and sincerity of the expression of Carmen's feelings. Created by the composer, Carmen is the embodiment of female originality and charm, fearlessness and determination, the desire to remain herself no matter what.

Today, perhaps, there is no person who would not know the opera "Carmen". Suite number 2 and "March of the Toreador" are known to everyone. Music made this opera truly popular. However, this was not always the case.

Everyone knows that the famous composer Georges Bizet worked on the opera Carmen. He began work on this opera in 1874. The plot of this opera is taken from the novel by Prosper Mérimée, which bears the same name as the opera. But to be more precise, it is the third chapter of this novel that is taken as a basis.

Of course, not everything is presented in this opera as in the novel. For example, in the opera itself, the writers thickened the colors a little. Emphasizing in the characters exactly those traits that explained their behavior. But, what is most important in this opera, as in everything that Georges Bizet wrote, Carmen was not just an opera for the bourgeoisie. The scenes taken from the lives of ordinary people made this opera truly beloved by the people. After all, everything in it is clear and so close and at the same time not devoid of romance.

However, not everything was as it is now. And the opera Carmen was not accepted by the Parisian society. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why the great composer died. Georges Bizet died three months after the premiere of Carmen. However, it cannot be said that Carmen was a hopeless opera at one time. After all, she had great success in the countries of Eastern Europe and in Russia. And Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky called this opera a Masterpiece, literally prophesying universal love for it.

Everyone knows that the opera Carmen is a story of love. And it takes place in Spain. But what is most surprising is that Georges Bizet created the very Spanish opera without ever having visited Spain. And the opera "Carmen" itself has become a classic of Spanish music. After all, Suite No. 2 is considered the best example of classical flamenco. The basic rhythm of this suite still serves as the basis for many flamenco compositions. And the "March of the Toreodors" is considered the best passoble. So, in fact, "Carmen" is the most Spanish, French opera.

Georges Bizet's opera Carmen was first presented to audiences in 1875. The plot of the opera is taken from the work of Prospero Merimee. At the center of events is the gypsy Carmen, whose actions and lifestyle touch and change the fate of those who are next to her. Filled with the spirit of freedom and denial of laws, Carmen enjoys the attention of men without thinking about their feelings.

In Russia, the first production of the opera took place at the Mariinsky Theater, and later it went around all well-known theatrical institutions. All 4 acts of the production are filled with action, bright colors and natural feelings. The audience fell in love with the opera precisely because of the abundance of passions, without pathos and high forms, because for 2 hours we watch the story of the life of ordinary people who could not curb their desires. Although 100 years ago, the opera was recognized as vulgar and ugly, and was highly discouraged by all well-known print media. Thanks to the media storm of the time, the opera was watched by many people, if only out of curiosity. The best advertisement could not be imagined. The audience liked Carmen, and to this day, the story of a free life and the accidental death of a gypsy woman attracts a lot of people to the theater.

A 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 girls, the manufacturers, Carmena is arrested and taken to the police station. There she languishes in anticipation of the warrant, and she is guarded by Sergeant Jose. The gypsy was able to fall in love with him and persuade him to release him. Jose at that time had a bride, a good position and a single mother, but the meeting with Carmen turned his whole life upside down. He lets her go, and loses his job and respect, becomes a simple soldier.
Carmen continues to have fun, visits pubs and collaborates with smugglers. Along the way, he flirts with Escamillo, the famous handsome bullfighter. Jose, in the heat of a quarrel raised his hand against his boss, has no choice but to stay with his Carmen and her friends, who illegally transport goods. He is madly in love with her, has long forgotten about the bride, only Carmen changes her feelings according to her 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. As Jose did not beg Carmen to return to him, she says in harsh terms that everything is over. Then Jose kills his beloved so that no one gets her.

The final scene of death against the backdrop of Escamillo's public performance, who himself has already grown cold to Carmen, is the most memorable scene of the entire opera.

The era of romanticism.

1. Biography. early years

4. During the Paris Commune

Theater Opera Comique in Paris.

The events of the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune frightened him as a representative of the bourgeois, but they stifled him from striving for truthful, realistic art. Bizet was already married and had moved in dangerous times to a quieter area of ​​Paris.

In the 70s - the period of Bizet's creative maturity - Jamile's opera (based on the poem "Namuna" by A. Musset, 1871), music to the drama "Arlesienne" by A. Daudet (1872) were created. Having mastered the rhythmic-intonations of the peculiarities of folk tunes, almost without resorting to quotations, Bizet reliably recreated in these works the character of oriental and Provencal music. These scores are distinguished by the mastery of the expressive means of the orchestra. Two orchestral suites from the music to "Arlesienne" are very popular (one created by the author, performed in 1872, the second - by the composer E. Giraud, performed in 1885).

5. Epic with the opera "Carmen"

The composer's aspiration to democratize opera art, the desire to get rid of theatrical clichés and conventions, were vividly expressed in the opera Carmen (based on the novella by P. Merimee, 1874). The libretto for the opera was created by Ludovic Halévy, a cousin of Georges Bizet's wife, whom he married for a year. Most of the music was written in two months in the suburbs of Paris - this is Bougival, where the family had a country house.

The main role was assigned to the singer Galli-Marya. Celestine Galli-Marier was not satisfied with the habanera and the composer reworked it several times. Georges Bizet has never been to Spain, so he used Spanish dance music, its themes. He "borrowed" the theme of habanera from the work of the Spanish composer Sebastian Herod, which was then a widespread practice. But he made a piece of music out of it, which has an independent value.

The opera was written by order of the management of the Opera Comic Theater. A small theater then served the theatrical needs of the respectable and narrow-minded bourgeois. In addition, the theater became a place for informal meetings of parents, looking for wealthy suitors for their daughters. Even their attitude towards operas was regulated by bourgeois tastes. Heroes must have a noble birth, noble message, beautiful suffering, they could only die for a significant purpose.

For the first time, representatives of the "lower classes" - a cigar factory worker and a mercenary soldier - performed on the French opera stage; the feelings and passions of people of low, common origin were truly revealed. The opera embodies the Spanish national musical flavor, the richness and variety of folk scenes, the tense course of dramatic events. At the premiere at the Opera, the comedian (1875) "Carmen" was harshly greeted by the bourgeois audience, saw neither noble characters nor noble behavior between lovers. The rejection of the new opera and the indignation of the bourgeoisie were also supported by the then bourgeois press. Newspapers published articles calling the opera a "social dump." A wild gypsy and a soldier, whose behavior was on the verge of pathology, could not teach the nobility of respectable daughters from bourgeois families. In addition, while still married, Carmen dies for the sake of freedom - her own feelings ...

6. Last years and death

PI Tchaikovsky wrote that “it is in the full sense of the word a masterpiece.

8. The most important works

Operas and operettas

• La prtresse, operetta (1854)
• "Miracle Doctor" (Le docteur Miracle), opera buff (1857)
• "Don Procopio" (Don Procopio), opera buff (1859)
• "Pearl Seekers" (Les pcheurs de perles), opera (1863)
• "Ivan IV", large opera (middle)
• "Perth beauty" (La jolie fille de Perth), opera (1867)
• Numa, opera (1871)
• "Arlesian" (L "Arlsienne),"music for the play" (1872)
• "Jamila" (Djamileh), one act opera (1872)
• Carmen, opera (1875)

Symphonic music

• Symphony No. 1 in C-dur (1855)
• Symphony No. 2 "Roma" (destroyed by the author)
• Suite "Arlesienne" (from music by Bizet for the play Arlesienne, 1872)
• Suite from the opera "Carmen"

Other

• choirs with orchestra and a cappella;
• pieces for piano,
• piano duets;
• romances, songs;

Alexander Cesar Leopold Bizet (1838-1875) - French composer, his work belongs to the period of romanticism, wrote pieces for piano, romances, works for orchestras and opera. He won worldwide fame thanks to his most famous opera Carmen.

Childhood

On October 25, 1838, in the family of a Parisian, a singing teacher, a son was born, who was given the name Alexander Cesar Leopold Bizet. During his baptism he was named Georges, under this name he received further fame.

The boy's family was musical. In addition to the fact that dad taught singing at school, mom was also related to music, she played the piano professionally. Also, the singing teacher was Georges' maternal uncle.

Little Georges loved to play music with his parents. But at the same time, he, a child, so wanted to run on the street and play with the children. However, the parents decided differently, they did not welcome street entertainment, so that at the age of four, Georges was already well versed in music and played the piano.

Conservatory

The boy was not yet ten years old, as he was admitted to the Paris Conservatory. Parents decided to send him there to study, as his musical talent was clearly noticeable. The childhood of Georges Bizet ended, which practically never began.

In the mornings, his mother always took Georges to the conservatory. After school, she waited for him, and then every day she repeated the same scenario: at home he was fed, locked in a room where he was supposed to play the piano. And the boy played the instrument until he fell asleep behind it from fatigue.

Young Georges tried to resist his mother, he liked literature so much that he wanted to constantly study it and read many books. But as soon as his mother found him with another book in her hands, she repeated monotonously: “It is not for nothing that you grew up in a musical family, you will become a musician, not a writer. And outstanding! "

In his studies, Georges did not experience difficulties, he grasped everything literally on the fly. During his studies, he proved himself to be a brilliant student in the piano class with the teacher Marmontel A. F, in the composition class with the teachers Ch. Gounod, P. Zimmermann, J. F. F. Halévy.

Bizet studied at the Conservatory for nine years and successfully graduated from it in 1857. Over the years of study, the young man began to try himself as a composer, he created many musical works, among them there is one symphony, which Georges wrote at the age of seventeen, it is still successfully performed by musicians from all over the world.

In the last year of his studies, Georges participated in a competition in which he had to write an operetta for one act, he composed a cantata for a legendary ancient plot and received an award. During his studies, Bizet also received several awards for playing the piano and organ.

In his last graduation year, Georges wrote the operetta "Doctor Miracle". And when he graduated from the Paris Conservatory, he received his most valuable award, the Rome Prize, for the cantata "Clovis and Clotilde". She gave Bizet great opportunities - to live in Italy for four years and receive a state scholarship.

Italy

In 1857, after graduating from the conservatory, Bizet left for Italy, where he lived until 1860. He studied local life, traveled, admired the beauty of nature and fine arts, and also devoted a lot of time to his education.

For a long time, Georges could not decide on a further life path, there was no way to find his own theme in music. Over time, Bizet decided to link his future work with the theater. He was very interested in opera premieres and musical theaters in Paris. To some extent, it was mercantile, because then in the theatrical musical world it was easiest to achieve success.

The years spent in Italy, Georges then considered the most carefree in his life. He gradually composed, during this time he wrote several pieces for orchestras (they later became part of the symphonic suite "Memories of Rome") and the symphony-cantata "Vasco da Gama".

But the time of receiving the Italian state scholarship came to an end, Georges had to return to Paris.

Return to Paris

Upon arrival in his hometown, Bizet did not have the best times; it was not easy to achieve recognition in Paris. He met with Antoine Choudan, who owned the most famous Parisian publishing house. Antoine looked at Georges in surprise: is it really the same young genius who received the prestigious Rome Prize in front of him? It was risky to contact an aspiring composer, but Shudan saw that the young man really needed money and was ready to take on any job. Antoine invited Bizet to rearrange the operas of famous composers for piano.

Day and night, Georges had to work with other people's musical works, he also gave private lessons and wrote light music to order. He was regularly paid money, but they were constantly in short supply. Soon his mother died, and the composer added to all other problems a nervous strain, a sharp breakdown began.

He could make a great living as a pianist, as his friends advised him, but Georges was not looking for an easy way of life, nevertheless, he completely immersed himself in composing music.

Creative way

He was still attracted by musical theater, but everything that Bizet wrote did not find approval. Nobody appreciated the comic opera Don Procopio. But Georges continued to live in need, to work and wait.

In 1863, he composed the opera Pearl Seekers, its premiere took place, the work was staged eighteen times, but then it was removed from the repertoire. Sleepless nights at work on other people's scores, music lessons that have become unloved, and poverty have returned again. Working for the sake of little money, which was only enough to not starve to death, took up all Bizet's time, there was no time to engage in creativity. The only thing that saved Georges was walking in the evening Paris and visiting the theater, in this he found an outlet, it would seem, from a hopeless situation.

The next opera, The Beauty of Perth, was staged in 1867, but was also unsuccessful. In 1868, Bizet began a creative crisis, and health problems were added. Georges' marriage in 1869 saved him from a protracted depression, but a year later he enrolled in the National Guard to participate in the Franco-Prussian War, which left its mark on family life, health, and the composer's work.

Since 1870, Bizet returned to writing, one after the other his musical works came out:

• Suite for Piano "Children's Games";
• romantic one-act opera "Jamile";
• music for the play "Arlesienne".

However, all these compositions were not successful then, despite the fact that in the future they became part of the golden fund of world symphonic works.

In 1874-1875, Georges worked on an opera for P. Mérimée's novella Carmen. Its premiere took place on March 3, 1875. Surprisingly, the opera, recognized as the pinnacle of French realism, bypassed all world opera stages, and become the most popular and beloved work in the history of music, suffered a fiasco on the day of its premiere.

The failure of his beloved brainchild led to the composer's tragic end. Georges Bizet died, and four months later the enchanting success of Carmen took place at the Vienna Opera. He never found out that a year later this work was staged on all the largest stages in Europe, recognized as the pinnacle of his work, that Carmen had become the most popular opera in history and in the world.

Personal life

Georges' first love was a girl named Giuseppa; he met her in Italy. The young man was short-sighted and slightly overweight, and his curls were so tightly intertwined on his head that it was impossible to comb them, so the composer himself considered himself not very attractive to the representatives of the opposite sex. During a conversation with women, he blushed, spoke quickly, became confused, his palms were sweating, and he was very shy about it all.

Georges was intoxicated that Giuseppa paid attention to him. But the father sent a letter where he informed about the illness of the mother. Bizet had to return to Paris, he invited the young bride with him, but Giuseppa could not just leave everything and leave for another country. Georges promised the girl that he would write a couple of comic operas, make a lot of money, return to her and they will live like kings. This did not happen, the composer himself barely survived, he only had memories of his first youthful love.

Georges was already 28 years old when an experienced woman appeared in his life who taught him true love. He met her on the train, it was Mogador (opera diva Lionel, Countess de Chabriand, writer Celeste Vinard). It was by the age of 42 that the woman became a writer, and her youth passed in brothels. After a stormy youth, she danced on stage for a long time, and then began to write her own novels about life. At the same time, her books in Parisian stores did not linger, Mogador was not mentioned aloud in society, but everyone in Paris knew about this woman.

All the grief of Georges was drowned in the passion of this woman. He was happy with her, but not for long. It was hard to withstand her mood swings, when Mogador was in anger, all her worst and negative qualities woke up. And Bizet had too vulnerable soul and delicate taste to endure all this. In addition, Mogador was getting old, she had financial problems, and Georges could not help with money, so this woman did not need his love. But he could not part with her. Once, during a scandal, Mogador poured a tub of ice water on Georges and drove him out into the street.

The consequence of this was purulent tonsillitis, which doctors discovered in him. Taking into account the fact that Georges suffered from angina and colds since childhood, his health deteriorated even more. The composer lay down, could not speak, but such physical suffering was insignificant in comparison with the mental one. A break with Mogador, a beggarly existence, a failure in creativity - Bizet came to a state of the deepest depression.

How else can you characterize the composer, whom P.I. Tchaikovsky called him a genius, and his work, the opera Carmen, is a real masterpiece, imbued with genuine feeling and real inspiration. Georges Bizet is an outstanding French composer who worked in the era of romanticism. His entire career was thorny, and his life was a continuous streak of obstacles. However, despite all the difficulties and thanks to his extraordinary talent, the great French gave the world a unique work that became one of the most popular in its genre and made the composer famous for all time.

You can read a short biography of Georges Bizet and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.

Bizet's short biography

On October 25, 1838, on the rue Tour d'Auvergne in Paris, in the family of the singing teacher Adolphe-Aman Bizet and his wife Aimé, a boy was born, whom loving parents named after three great emperors: Alexander Cesar Leopold. the French name Georges, which remained with him forever.

From the very first days of his life, the child listened to a lot of music - these were tender lullabies of mothers, as well as educational vocalizations of his father's students. When the baby was four years old, Ema 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 assigned to a school where an inquisitive child was very addicted to reading, and, according to his mother, it distracted the boy from music lessons, for which the boy had to sit for hours.

Georges' phenomenal musical ability and diligent studies bore fruit. After the audition, which caused surprise delight among the professors of the Paris Conservatory, the nine-year-old child was enrolled as a volunteer in a prestigious educational institution in the class of the famous A. Marmontel. With a lively character, curious and emotional student, who grasped everything on the fly, the professor liked him very much, working with him gave the teacher great pleasure. But the ten-year-old boy did not only succeed in playing the piano. In the competition for solfeggio having demonstrated phenomenal ear for music and memory, he won the first prize and was honored to receive free additional lessons on the instrument and composition from the outstanding P. Zimmerman.

Georges's conservative training as a performer was drawing to a close, and the path of a concert musician was opening up for him, although this prospect did not interest the young man at all. Since P. Zimmerman began to study composition with him, the young man had a new dream: to compose music for the theater. Therefore, after completing the piano course with A. Mormontel, Georges immediately entered the composition class of F. Halevy, under whose guidance he wrote a lot and with enthusiasm, trying himself in various musical genres. In addition, Bizet enthusiastically studied organ under Professor F. Benois, where he achieved significant results, first winning the second and then the first prize of the Conservatory in performance on the instrument.

In 1856, at the persuasive insistence of F. Golev, Georges took part in the competition of the Academy of Fine Arts. The first, the so-called Rome Prize, gave the young talent an opportunity for two years of internship in Italian and a year in German capitals. At the end of this practice, the young author was given the right to premiere a one-act theatrical piece of music in one of the theaters in France. Unfortunately, this attempt was not entirely successful: this time no one was awarded the first prize. But the young composer was lucky 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 for the creation of a small comedy musical performance with a limited number of performers. The winner was promised a gold medal and a prize of one thousand two hundred francs. "Doctor Miracles" was the name of the operetta presented by the eighteen-year-old composer to the distinguished jury. The decision of the commission: the prize is divided between two contestants, 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 doors for him to the famous Offenbach "Fridays", where only select creative personalities were invited, and where he was honored to be represented by 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, to improve his skills, went to the Eternal City.

Italy

In Italy, Georges traveled around the country, admiring the beautiful nature and works of fine art, 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 Minister of Education of France with a request to allow him to spend the third year not in Germany, but in Italy, to which he received a positive response. This was a period of a difficult stage in the human and creative formation of the young composer, which Georges later called the happiest and most carefree in his life. For Bizet, these were wonderful years of creative pursuits 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.

Homecoming

The hometown of the young man did not welcome. Georges' carefree youth was over, and now he had to think about how to earn money for his daily bread. Gray days began, which were filled with boring routine work for him. Bizet moonlighted with private lessons, and also, by order of the owner of the famous Parisian publishing house A. Shudan, was engaged in arranging orchestral scores of works by famous composers for piano and composing entertainment music. Friends advised Georges to engage in performing activities, because even while 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 fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming an opera composer.

Bizet had many problems: he had to pass the ode-symphony "Vasca da Gama" - another second report to the Academy of Arts, and, in addition, he, as a Roman laureate, had to write a funny one-act opera for the Opera-Comique theater. The libretto was provided to him, but funny melodies for "Guzla Emir", as the performance was called, were not born at all. And how could they appear when the most beloved person and best friend was in a difficult condition. On September 8, 1861, Georges's mother died. One irreparable loss followed another. Six months later, not just a teacher, but Bizet's mentor and support, Fromental Halevy, passed away. Suppressed by the loss of loved ones, Georges, in order to somehow distract himself, tried even more to go to work, but as a result he got nervous strain and a breakdown.

Throughout 1863 Bizet worked on a new opera “ Pearl seekers”, And in 1864 he helped his father in the construction of housing on a forest plot, acquired by Adolf-Aman in Vezin. Now Georges has the opportunity to spend every summer in nature. Here, with great enthusiasm, he composed "Ivan the Terrible", and in 1866 "Perth Beauty". In 1867, Bizet was offered a job as a music columnist for a Paris magazine. He published an article under the pseudonym Gaston de Betsy, which was received really well, but, unfortunately, it was the first and the last.

At the same time, significant changes are taking place in Georges' personal life: he passionately falls in love with the daughter of his late teacher F. Halevy. Genevieve's mother and close relatives were against such an alliance, considering the composer an unworthy party for a girl, but Bizet was rather persistent, and as a result, on June 3, 1869, the young were married. Georges was unusually happy, he protected his young wife in every possible way, who was twelve years younger than him, and tried to please her in everything.

Dangerous times

In the summer of the following year, the Bizet couple went for four months to Barbizon, a place very popular with people of art. The composer intends here to work fruitfully on "Clarissa Garlow", "Calendale", "Griselda", but because of the Franco-Prussian war that began in July, Georges's plans did not come true. The government announced a widespread conscription to the National Guard. Bizet did not escape this fate, he even underwent military training, but as a Roman scholar he received an exemption from military service and left for Barbizon to pick up his wife and return to Paris, where on September 4 the republic was again proclaimed. The situation in the capital became complicated due to the siege of the Prussians: famine began in the city. Relatives offered Georges to move to Bordeaux for a while, but he stayed and, as best he could, helped the defenders of Paris, patrolling in the city and on the ramparts.

Bizet and Genevieve left the city only after the surrender announced in January 1871 and the lifting of the blockade. First, they visited relatives in Bordeaux, then moved to Compiegne, and waited for the end of the troubled times of the Paris Commune in Wiesen. Returning to the capital in early June, Bizet immediately began work on his new work, the opera Jamile, which premiered on May 22, 1872. And two and a half weeks later, a joyful event took place in the composer's life - Genevieve gave him a son. Inspired by such happiness, Georges went deeper into his work and gladly accepted the offer to saturate Daudet's dramatic performance "Arlesienne" 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 an overwhelming success. Soon Georges was again disappointed: at the end of October 1873, the composer was informed that the building of the Grand Opera, where the premiere of his opera "Sid" was soon to take place, had burned to the ground and all performances were transferred to the Ventadour Hall, which was not adapted for such a production. However, three months later, the name of Bizet was again on everyone's lips: the first and then subsequent performances of his dramatic overture "Fatherland" were a great triumph.

The last work of the composer

The composer spent the entire 1874 working on a piece recommended by his friends. From the very beginning, Bizet was embarrassed by many things: how an opera with a tragic ending can be staged on the stage of the Opera-Comique, and this is how P. Merimee's short story "Carmen" ended. Some even suggested changing the ending, because the author of the work has been dead for more than three years. But the worst thing: how the audience will perceive the performance on stage by people from the lower class. Despite everything, the composer enthusiastically set about 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 of an impending theater scandal spread throughout the city. The first act was received warmly enough, 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 most social bottom.

The second performance took place a day later, on March 5, and was already greeted by the public not only warmly, but warmly, but the newspapers continued to discuss the failure of the premiere screening for a whole week. In that theatrical season "Carmen" was staged in Paris thirty-seven times, and after all, not every performance could withstand so many performances. Because of the failure of the premiere, Bizet suffered greatly, but to this was 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 left Paris with all his family and went to Bougival in the hope that it would be easier for him in nature. However, the composer did not get better, the constant attacks finally tormented him and on June 3 the doctor stated the death of Georges Bizet.

Interesting facts about Georges Bizet

• The composer's father, Adolphe Aman Bizet, before he met Anna Leopoldina Aimé, née Delsart, Georges's 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 right behind the instrument from fatigue.
• Baby Bizet was so fond of reading from 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 the biography of Bizet, we learn that, despite his giftedness, the young prodigy very often quarreled with his parents because of his music lessons, he cried and was angry with them, but from childhood he realized that his abilities and the persistence of his mother would give results that would help him in later life.
• Awarded with a Rome scholarship, Georges Bizet not only traveled a lot, but also got to know different people. Often attending receptions at the French Embassy, ​​he met there with an interesting person - Russian Ambassador Dmitry Nikolaevich Kiselyov. A strong friendship developed between the twenty-year-old boy and the nearly sixty-year-old dignitary.
• Georges Bizet's uncle, François Delsarte, was once a famous singing teacher in Paris, but he gained great fame as the inventor of a peculiar system of "staging the aesthetics of the human body", which later found its followers. Some art critics believe that F. Delsarte is a person who largely predetermined the development of art in 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 undertakings 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 the technically complex work of the composer so masterly that he delighted the author: after all, the young musician easily played puzzling passages at the right pace.
• In 1874, Georges Bizet was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor by the French government for his significant contribution to the development of musical art.
• After the first failed premiere, A. Daudet's drama "Arlesienne" returned to the stage only ten years later. The play has already enjoyed an undoubted success with the audience, although contemporaries note the fact that the audience went to the performance more in order to listen to the music that adorned it by J. Bizet.
• The opera "Ivan the Terrible" by J. Bizet was never staged during the composer's lifetime. Contemporaries even said that the composer burned the score in offense, but the work was nevertheless discovered, but only at the end of the thirties of the last century in the archives of the conservatory and was staged for the first time in a concert version in occupying Paris in 1943 at the theater on Boulevard des Capucines. The organizers of the play tried to ensure that there was not a single German among the audience, since an opera written on a Russian plot could cause great irritation in them, especially since the turning point in World War II had already taken place not in favor of Germany. Bizet's opera Ivan the Terrible has never been staged in Russia, since many of the historical facts in it are 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 of his papers and manuscripts were discovered by the executor of Emil Strauss (the second husband of the widow of J. Bizet), Mr. R. Sybil, 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 emerged from a casual relationship with the Bizet family's maid, Maria Reuters. The second son, Jacques, was born in a marriage with Genevieve, nee Golev.

The work of Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet's creative life cannot be called successful. He was very often frustrated by unfair criticism of his works. Nevertheless, Bizet is a great composer who devoted his entire life to music and left to posterity a diverse legacy, including operas, operettas, odes-symphonies, oratorio, works for choir with orchestra and a cappella, vocal cycles and works for piano. , as well as works for a symphony orchestra, including overtures, symphonies, suites.

According to Bizet's biography, at the age of four, Georges sat down at the piano for the first time, at the age of thirteen he tried himself as a music writer, and a year later, having entered the composition class of the Conservatory, he was in an intense creative search. Gradually, he developed skill, although at first there was absolutely no individual creative handwriting. During the years of study at the Conservatory, Bizet created many different works, but they still felt the influence V.A. Mozart and early L.V. Beethoven and also his older friend Charles Gounod. Among the works of Bizet of the conservatory period, it is necessary to note compositions for chorus and orchestra: "Waltz" and "Choir of Students", a piece for piano "Grand Concert Waltz", operetta "Doctor Miracle", cantata "Clovis and Clotilde", as well as Symphony No. 1 C -dur ("Youth"), which is still successfully performed at world concert venues.

The next important period in the composer's life was the years spent on an internship in Italy. It was a time of constant creative searches, as a result of which Bizet came to the conclusion that his main musical interest was precisely in the theater. Here he writes his first opera "Don Procopio", which, breaking the rules, is sent for a creative report to the Academy of Fine Arts, although it was necessary to compose and send a mass. A little later, Bizet will still write a work on a religious plot, but not for a report, but for a competition. But his "Te Deum" did not make an impression on the jury, and the composer himself later noted that he was not inclined to write sacred music. Also during this Italian period, an ode came out from the pen of the young composer - the Vasco da Gama symphony, which served as a creative report to the Academy, and several pieces for orchestra, which later became part of the Memories of Rome symphonic suite.

After returning home, Bizet, commissioned by the Parisian Opera-Comic, began work on the musical comedy performance Guzla Emir, but the premiere of the opera did not take place, despite the fact that its rehearsals were already underway at the theater. The composer was not satisfied with his creation, considered it vulnerable and doomed to failure. He took the score and immediately set about creating a new piece, which Bizet assumed would open up brilliant prospects for him. The final version of the opera was named “ Pearl seekers". In the same period, the young composer sent his third final report to the Academy of Fine Arts, consisting of the Overture, Scherzo and Funeral March. The premiere of "The Searchers" took place at the end of September 1863 and was quite well received by the public, and to top it off received a laudatory review in an article written G. Berlioz, although attacks from critics who accused Bizet of imitating Wagner, it was enough.

Then the composer was working on an opera based on a plot from Russian history, but, unfortunately, the production of Ivan the Terrible did not take place during the composer's lifetime. Further, Georges worked on the execution of small orders from his publisher Shudan and the Belgian choral society: he wrote a cycle of romances, as well as the acapella choir "St. John of Patmos". Bizet devoted all of 1966 to the composition of The Perth Beauty, the first showing of which took place at the end of December of the following year. This time the success was simply overwhelming, not only the audience was delighted with the new opera, but also critics later spoke well about the music of the performance.

In 1868 Georges worked on the opera "The Cup of the King of Fuller" according to the announced competition of the state theaters. To our great regret, the score of this work disappeared, only small fragments remained, which later became known as romances: "Abandoned", "Gascon", "Love, Dream", "Night", "Siren", "Do not Forget" and duets: "Dreaming", "Nymphs of the Forests". During this period, Bizet really pays a lot of attention to vocal creativity. His romances, intended not only for the salon, but also for home music-making, were real theatrical miniatures. Several noteworthy piano works of the composer belong to the same period, including the cycle Songs of the Rhine, Large Chromatic Variations for Piano and Fantastic Hunt. Then there was work on the "Small Orchestral Suite", the cycle for two pianos "Children's Games", the symphony "Rome" and, undoubtedly, on works in the composer's favorite opera genre: "Griselda", "Clarissa Garlow", "Calendale" and "Jamila ". The premiere of the latter, despite the shouts of the audience "bravo", in the opinion of Bizet himself, was unequivocally a failure. However, the press reviews of the work were very interesting and even passionate. Someone considered the opera not emotional and devoid of color, but someone called it a bold experiment that brought great success to the composer. Unfortunately, only the works written by Bizet at the end of his life, including the music for A. Daudet's drama "Arlesienne" and the opera " Carmen", Brought him not only recognition, but also truly world fame.

Personal life

Bizet was a very shy young man and did not find his appearance attractive to women. When communicating with the weaker sex, he was always so worried that his face turned red, his hands were sweating, and his tongue twisted during conversation. Georges met his first love in Italy, her name was Giuseppa. It was a funny and flirtatious adorable girl, about whom the composer was crazy and made plans for a happy life together, inviting her to come to France. Unfortunately, this relationship did not continue, since Bizet had to urgently return to his homeland due to his mother's illness.

Georges' next passion was a 42-year-old woman, experienced in love, who spent her youth and youth in brothels, a circus, a theater, and also a variety show. She was fourteen years older than Bizet. In decent society, they did not mention her, but in Paris she was known by such names as the beautiful Mogador, Madame Lionel, Countess de Chabrillant, the writer Celeste Vinard. Mogador conquered the young composer with her recklessness and incredible female magnetism. This woman's passion for Georges was short-lived. Wounded Bizet suffered immensely from her mood swings. Once, during an angry fit, Mogador poured cold water on him and drove him out into the street. As a result of this incident, Georges fell seriously ill with a sore throat, in addition, the result of the final break with the scandalous Madame was a state of deep depression, from which Bizet was helped out by intense creative work, as well as acquaintance with a young charming girl - the daughter of his teacher - Genevieve Halévy.

The composer was so fascinated by the seventeen-year-old girl, her tenderness and purity, that, despite the objections of relatives on both sides, he set the goal of marrying Genevieve. The wedding took place two years later on June 3, 1869, and three years later the Bizet family was replenished with a son, who was given the name Jacques. Georges loved his wife very much, but despite this, the composer's family life and personal happiness began to crumble like a house of cards. The reasons for this were Genevieve's inability to forgive her husband's frequent creative failures, and, in addition, her unhealthy imagination was taken by the successful pianist Elie-Miriam Delabord, with whom she did not hide her connection from anyone. All these disappointments in life became the reason for the imminent death of Georges Bizet, the secret of which still cannot be solved by any biographer of the composer.

Music by Georges Bizet in cinema

The music of Georges Bizet is very popular at the present time, directors around the world very often use it in the soundtracks of their films. Undoubtedly all records have been broken by excerptsfrom the opera Carmen such as the overture, Habanera, march and aria of Toreodor, as well as fragments from the suite Arlesienne and the famous aria from the opera The Pearl Seekers - Je crois entende. It is impossible to list all the films where this wonderful music sounds, but here are some of them:

Movie	Work
Henry's Book, 2017	"Habanera"
"Guys with Guns", 2016
Reservoir Dogs, 2016
Cyber ​​Terror, 2015
This Morning in New York, 2014
"A very dangerous thing", 2013
"The Book of Life", 2014	Overture to the opera "Carmen"
"Dancing without rules", 1992
Mirage, 2015	"Arlesian"
"Labyrinth of Dreams", 1987	Aria Toreodora
"Happy Ending", 2012	"March of the Toreodor"
"The Man Who Cried", 2014
"Fight", 2010	aria from the opera "Pearl Seekers" - "Je crois entende"
"Assassination of a School President", 2008
"Match point", 2005

A phenomenally gifted person, Georges Bizet created such magnificent works that nowadays admire hundreds of millions of people around the globe. It took many years for the name Bizet to take the place it rightfully deserves among other great composers. His untimely death in the prime of his creativity is an irreplaceable and very significant loss for the entire world musical culture.

Video: watching a film about Georges Bizet