Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875)
Born in Paris, Bizet won early success as a composer and as a prodigious pianist.
He was a brilliantly successful student, but his later career was variable and he had great difficulty in developing his own personal style.
He is now best known for his famous opera "Carmen" which was performed shortly before he died.
He left a number of unfinished stage works.
Bizet's last opera, "Carmen", is among the most famous of all operas with its realistic Spanish setting and dramatic intensity. Concert audiences will be familiar with his two concert suites drawn from the opera.
His melodrama "L'Arlèsienne", a collaboration with the writer Alphonse Daudet, was coolly received in the theatre. The two suites from the work are well known, the second arranged by Bizet's friend Ernest Guiraud.
Bizet's only surviving symphony, written when he was 17, was rediscovered and performed for the first time in 1935.
Popular piano works include the two-piano "Jeux d'enfants" (Children's Games).
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