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 76-100 of 738 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | C-10181 | 12-in. | 4/13/1911 | Micaela's aria | Alma Gluck ; Victor Orchestra | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-10219 | 12-in. | 4/24/1911 | Carmen : Selection | William H. Reitz | Xylophone solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-10219 | 10-in. | 4/28/1911 | Carmen : Selection | William H. Reitz | Xylophone solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-10294 | 12-in. | 5/8/1911 | L'Arlésienne suite no. 1 : Prelude | Arthur Pryor's Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | C-10394 | 12-in. | 6/6/1911 | Gems from Carmen | Victor Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-10553 | 12-in. | 6/20/1911 | Romanza del fiore | Alberto Amadi | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11077 | 12-in. | 10/11/1911 | Prelude : Finale | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-11078 | 10-in. | 10/11/1911 | No. 2 intermezzo (1st entr'acte) | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11079 | 12-in. | 10/11/1911 | First intermezzo (1st entr'acte) | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11172 | 12-in. | 11/2/1911 | Micaela's air | Florence Hinkle | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11213 | 12-in. | 11/9/1911 | Canzone del toreador | Pasquale Amato | Baritone vocal solo, with harp and orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11345 | 12-in. | 12/8/1911 | Agnus Dei | Ernestine Schumann-Heink | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra and piano | composer | |
Victor | C-11470 | 12-in. | 1/18/1912 | Au fond du temple saint | Edmond Clément ; Marcel Journet | Vocal duet (tenor and bass), with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11471 | 12-in. | 1/18/1912 | Je suis Escamillo | Edmond Clément ; Marcel Journet | Vocal duet (tenor and bass), with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11682 | 12-in. | 3/7/1912 | Air de la fleur | Hermann Jadlowker | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-11688 | 10-in. | 3/8/1912 | Seguidilla | Margarete Matzenauer | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-11785 | 12-in. | 3/22/1912 | Se tu m'ami | Pasquale Amato ; Margarete Matzenauer | Vocal duet (soprano and baritone), with orchestra and chorus | composer | |
Victor | B-11894 | 10-in. | 4/18/1912 | Habanera | Rosalia Chalia | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-12542 | 10-in. | 10/28/1912 | Le Gascon | Herbert Witherspoon | Bass vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-12604 | 12-in. | 11/8/1912 | Carmen selection | Vessella's Italian Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | B-12707 | 10-in. | 12/11/1912 | Mi par d'udire ancora | John McCormack | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-12748 | 10-in. | 12/30/1912 | Chorus of cigarette girls | Women's Chorus | Female vocal chorus, with male vocal chorus | composer | |
Victor | C-12803 | 12-in. | 1/16/1913 | Agnus Dei | Ernestine Schumann-Heink | Contralto vocal solo, with piano and orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-12942 | 12-in. | 2/24/1913 | Agnus Dei | Enrico Caruso | Tenor vocal solo, with piano and orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-13028 | 12-in. | 3/28/1913 | Parle-moi de ma mère | Lucy Isabelle Marsh ; John McCormack | Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Bizet, Georges," accessed April 24, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102559.
Bizet, Georges. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102559.
"Bizet, Georges." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 24 April 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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