Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (né Alexandre César Léopold Bizet; 25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire. During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist, though he chose not to capitalise on this skill and rarely performed in public. Returning to Paris after almost three years in Italy, he found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result, his career stalled, and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others. Restless for success, he began many theatrical projects during the 1860s, most of which were abandoned. Neither of his two operas that reached the stage in this time—Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth—were immediately successful. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, during which Bizet served in the National Guard, he had little success with his one-act opera Djamileh, though an orchestral suite derived from his incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play L'Arlésienne was instantly popular. The production of his final opera, Carmen, was delayed because of fears that its themes of betrayal and murder would offend audiences. After its premiere on 3 March 1875, Bizet was convinced that the work was a failure; he died of a heart attack three months later, unaware that it would prove a spectacular and enduring success. Bizet's marriage to Geneviève Halévy was intermittently happy and produced one son. After his death, his work, apart from Carmen, was generally neglected. Manuscripts were given away or lost, and published versions of his works were frequently revised and adapted by other hands. He founded no school and had no obvious disciples or successors. After years of neglect, his works began to be performed more frequently in the 20th century. Later commentators have acclaimed him as a composer of brilliance and originality whose premature death was a significant loss to French musical theatre. |
Birth and Death Data: Born October 25, 1838 (Rue Louise-Émilie-de-La-Tour-d'Auvergne), Died June 3, 1875 (Bougival)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1895 - 1950
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 401-425 of 739 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | 76036 | 12-in. | approximately 1917 | Fair maid of Perth : Minuet | Beecham Symphony Orchestra ; Thomas Beecham | Orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 76071 | 12-in. | approximately 1918 | Flower song | Hughes Macklin | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 76991 | 12-in. | 5/10/1923 | Carmen, selection, part 1 | Alick Maclean ; New Queen's Hall Light Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 76992 | 12-in. | 5/10/1923 | Carmen, selection, part 2 | Alick Maclean ; New Queen's Hall Light Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 86629 | 10-in. | approximately September 1920 | La fleur | Émile Gour | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 87143 | 10-in. | approximately February 1921 | Agnus Dei | Edna White | Trumpet solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 90113 | 10-in. | Doll's cradle song | Columbia Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | ||
Columbia | W83065 | 12-in. | April 1928 | Carmen : Canción de toreador | José Mossesgeld Santiago | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W96769 | 10-in. | September 1928 | Te besaba, mi madre | Dolores Cassinelli ; Julián Oliver | Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W96775 | 10-in. | September 1928 | Te besaba, mi madre | Dolores Cassinelli ; Julián Oliver | Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W97103 | 10-in. | approximately April 1903 | Romanza de Micaela | Elena Ehlers | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
OKeh | 169 | 10-in. | approximately June 1918 | Carmen : Selection | OKeh Concert Band | Band | composer | |
OKeh | S-7108 | 10-in. | ca. Dec. 1919 | Carmen : Selections | Conway's Band | Band | composer | |
OKeh | S-70321 | 10-in. | Nov. 1921 | My heart at thy sweet voice | Damon's Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
OKeh | S-71723 | 12-in. | Aug. 1923 | Excerpts from Carmen | Hotel Pennsylvania Orchestra ; Vincent Lopez | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
OKeh | W500051 | 12-in. | 12/12/1928 | Pearl fisher | Salvatore Minichini's Italian Royal Marine Band | Band | composer | |
OKeh | W500052 | 12-in. | 12/12/1928 | Pearl fisher | Salvatore Minichini's Italian Royal Marine Band | Band | composer | |
OKeh | [OK cat 1280-b] | 10-in. | approximately 1919 | Toreador song | Greek Evans | Male vocal solo | composer | |
Brunswick | [Br cat 15194-b] | 10-in. | approximately Dec. 1917 | Toreador | Henri Scott | Bass vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Brunswick | [Br cat 20162-b] | 12-in. | approximately Oct. 1917 | Habanera | Mme. Barone Eugenie Fonariova | Mezzo-soprano vocal solo | composer | |
Brunswick | 5941 | 10-in. | approximately June 1921 | Pearl fishers | Tobia Kittay | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Brunswick | 14298 | 12-in. | approximately 1921 | Carmen : Selection | Vessella's Italian Band | Band | composer | |
Brunswick | 3497-3498 | 10-in. | approximately Jan. 1920 | Habañera | Irene Pavloska | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Brunswick | 4207-4210 | 10-in. | approximately Oct. 1920 | Farandole | Vessella's Italian Band | Band | composer | |
Brunswick | 4210-4212 | 10-in. | approximately Oct. 1920 | Arlésienne : Minuet | Vessella's Italian Band | Band | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Bizet, Georges," accessed May 12, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102559.
Bizet, Georges. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 12, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102559.
"Bizet, Georges." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 12 May 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Georges Bizet
Discogs: Georges Bizet
Allmusic: Georges Bizet
Grove: Georges Bizet
IMSLP: Georges Bizet
RILM: Georges Bizet
RISM: Georges Bizet
IMDb: Georges Bizet
Britannica: Georges Bizet
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Bizet, Georges, 1838-1875 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79116212
Wikidata: Georges Bizet - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q56158
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/10032551
MusicBrainz: Georges Bizet - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9bd20e6a-b41d-4983-a5b6-c0ff849fa235
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