Georges Bizet (1838–1875)
The French composer of Carmen, the most performed opera in the world, who died at thirty-six, three months after its premiere.
Born in Paris in 1838 into a family of musicians, Georges Bizet entered the Conservatoire at nine. A brilliant pianist, he wrote a Symphony in C at seventeen, rediscovered only in 1935, and won the Prix de Rome in 1857.
Back from Italy, he struggled to make his name and earned his living arranging other people’s music. He wrote operas such as The Pearl Fishers (1863), the incidental music for L’Arlésienne (1872) and Jeux d’enfants for piano duet (1871).
Carmen, premiered at the Opéra-Comique in 1875, at first disconcerted audiences with its realism. Bizet died three months later, aged thirty-six, without knowing the worldwide triumph of his opera.