Georges Bizet
From Philosopedia
Bizet, Georges (25 October 1838 - 3 June 1875)
Bizet, whose given name was Alexandre Cesar Leopold Bizet, was born in Paris. The musical prodigy entered the Paris Conservatoire at age nine. Over the next decade Bizet won virtually every prize available, including the Prix de Rome.
He refused a career as a concert pianist in order to compose operas. He wrote about 30, none particularly successful, until he composed Carmen in 1875, based on Prosper Merimee's book about a Spanish gypsy girl. Carmen was controversial not only because of its humble subject matter and passionate sweep, but for the fact that the libretto was written in French, and (scandalously) could be understood by the audience. Criticism and a lukewarm reception closed the play after a brief run, although the composers of Bizet's day praised it.
According to Maurice Abravanel,
- In 1865, Georges had a chance meeting on a train from Paris en route to the little village of Le Vesinet with a woman who may have been some of the inspiration for Carmen. Celeste Venard (nicknamed La Mogador) was quite a colorful character whose occupations included prostitution, dance hall escort, writer, stage director and equestrian to name a few. Celeste had purchased a home near Bizet's and on that fateful train ride; the two discovered they would be neighbors.
- At Bizet's suggestion, Celeste bought a piano and gave him the key to her home so he could compose in peace. In Celeste's memoirs, she insists that the relationship was purely platonic and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. Celeste was now singing for her living in a cafe' and performed Ay Chiquita by a composer named Sebastian Yradier, composer of the well-known song 'La Paloma'. Apparently, Bizet liked Yradier's music as he borrowed a theme from Yradier's El Arregilito for the Habanera. Celeste and Georges' relationship ended abruptly, perhaps because of the displeasure of his future in-laws, the Halevys.
- In 1869, Georges married Genevieve Halevy , the mentally unstable daughter of his former teacher. Together they had a son who later committed suicide. Their son, Jacques, was born in 1872. The marriage did not bring much happiness to Bizet. George Bizet was consistently racked by self-doubt and depression, and it was his refusal to give in to his natural inclination to compose from the 'heart', that caused so many of his compositions to be aborted before completion. During this time, Bizet continued to compose with some of his works being met with modest success, including his incidental music for Alphonse Daudet's play L'Arlesienne.
Bizet, who suffered from depression and ill health, died of a heart attack three months later at the age of 36, never knowing "Carmen" would become the best-known, best-loved, and most produced opera in history. Bizet also wrote "Jeux d'Enfants," 12 piano duets.
In 1886, Bizet wrote,
- I should write better music if I believe a lot of things that aren’t true,” which is said by some to be a reference to France’s Catholicism as well as to his personally being troubled by the dominant positivist philosophy of his day. “I have always read the ancient pagans with infinite pleasure,” Bizet wrote in a 1908 letter emphatically rejecting Christianity, “while in Christian writers I have found only system, egoism, intolerance, and a complete lack of artistic taste.
Bizet’s tomb is in the huge Père-Lachaise cemetery in eastern Paris, near the tombs of Moliere, Chopin, Marcel Proust, and Oscar Wilde. His marker includes a bronze relief harp.
