Biography of Bizet Georges. The most interesting data and facts from the life of Georges Bizet

22.04.2019

...I need theater: without it I am nothing.
J. Bizet

The French composer J. Bizet dedicated his short life to musical theater. The pinnacle of his work - "Carmen" - still remains one of the most beloved operas for many, many people.

Bizet grew up in a cultured, educated family; his father was a singing teacher, his mother played the piano. At the age of 4, Georges began studying music under the guidance of his mother. At the age of 10 he entered the Paris Conservatory. His teachers were the most prominent musicians in France: pianist A. Marmontel, theorist P. Zimmerman, opera composers F. Halévy and C. Gounod. Even then, Bizet’s versatile talent was revealed: he was a brilliant virtuoso pianist (F. Liszt himself admired his playing), repeatedly received prizes in theoretical disciplines, and was fond of playing the organ (later, having already gained fame, he studied with S. Frank).

During the conservatory years (1848-58), works full of youthful freshness and ease appeared, including the Symphony in C major and the comic opera The Doctor's House. Graduation from the conservatory was marked by receiving the Rome Prize for the cantata “Clovis and Clotilde”, which gave the right to a four-year stay in Italy and a state scholarship. At the same time, for a competition announced by J. Offenbach, Bizet wrote the operetta “Doctor Miracle,” which was also awarded a prize.

In Italy, Bizet, enchanted by the fertile southern nature, monuments of architecture and painting, worked a lot and fruitfully (1858-60). He studies art, reads many books, and comprehends beauty in all its manifestations. The ideal for Bizet is the beautiful, harmonious world of Mozart and Raphael. Truly French grace, generous melodic gift, delicate taste forever became integral features of the composer's style. Bizet is increasingly attracted to operatic music, which can “merge” with the phenomenon or hero depicted on stage. Instead of the cantata, which the composer was supposed to present in Paris, he writes the comic opera Don Procopio, in the tradition of G. Rossini. An ode-symphony “Vasco da Gama” is also being created.

The return to Paris was associated with the beginning of serious creative quests and at the same time hard, routine work for the sake of a piece of bread. Bizet has to make transcriptions of other people's opera scores, write entertaining music for cafe concerts and at the same time create new works, working 16 hours a day. “I'm working like a black man, I'm exhausted, I'm literally torn apart... I just finished romances for a new publisher. I'm afraid it turned out mediocre, but I need money. Money, always money - to hell! Following Gounod, Bizet turns to the genre of lyric opera. His “Pearl Seekers” (1863), where the natural expression of feelings is combined with oriental exoticism, evoked the praise of G. Berlioz. “The Beauty of Perth” (1867, based on the story by W. Scott) depicts the life ordinary people. The success of these operas was not so great as to strengthen the position of the author. Self-criticism and a sober awareness of the shortcomings of “The Beauty of Perth” became the key to Bizet’s future achievements: “This is a spectacular play, but the characters are poorly outlined... The school of hackneyed roulades and lies is dead - dead forever! Let’s bury her without regret, without worry - and move on!” A number of plans of those years remained unfulfilled; The completed but generally unsuccessful opera “Ivan the Terrible” was not staged. In addition to operas, Bizet writes orchestral and chamber music: he completes the Rome Symphony, begun in Italy, writes pieces for piano for 4 hands “Children's Games” (some of them in the orchestral version formed the “Little Suite”), romances.

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, when France was in a critical situation, Bizet joined the ranks of the National Guard. A few years later, his patriotic feelings found expression in the dramatic overture “Motherland” (1874). 70s - the flourishing of the composer's creativity. In 1872, the premiere of the opera “Djamile” (based on the poem by A. Musset) took place, which subtly transformed; Arabic intonation folk music. It was a surprise for visitors to the Opera-Comique theater to see a work telling about selfless love, full of pure lyricism. True music connoisseurs and serious critics saw in “Jamila” the beginning of a new stage, the opening of new paths.

In the works of these years, the purity and grace of style (always inherent in Bizet) by no means interfere with the truthful, uncompromising expression of the drama of life, its conflicts and tragic contradictions. Now the composer’s idols are V. Shakespeare, Michelangelo, L. Beethoven. In his article “Conversations on Music,” Bizet welcomes “a passionate, violent, sometimes even unbridled temperament like Verdi, which gives art a living, powerful work, created from gold, dirt, bile and blood. I change my skin both as an artist and as a person,” Bizet says about himself.

One of the peaks of Bizet’s creativity is the music for A. Daudet’s drama “La Arlesienne” (1872). The production of the play was unsuccessful, and the composer best rooms composed an orchestral suite (the second suite after Bizet’s death was composed by his friend, composer E. Guiraud). As in previous works, Bizet gives the music a special, specific flavor of the scene. Here it is Provence, and the composer uses folk Provençal melodies and imbues the entire work with the spirit of Old French lyricism. The orchestra sounds colorful, light and transparent, Bizet achieves an amazing variety of effects: the ringing of bells, the sparkle of colors in the picture of a folk festival (“Farandola”), the refined chamber sound of a flute and harp (in the minuet from the Second Suite) and the sad “singing” of the saxophone (Bizet was the first to introduce this instrument into the symphony orchestra).

Bizet's last works were the unfinished opera Don Rodrigo (based on Corneille's drama The Cid) and Carmen, which placed its author among the world's greatest artists. The premiere of Carmen (1875) was also Bizet’s biggest failure in life: the opera failed with scandal and caused harsh criticism from the press. Three months later, on June 3, 1875, the composer died in the Paris suburb of Bougival.

Despite the fact that “Carmen” was staged at the Opera Comic Theater, it corresponds to this genre only in some formal characteristics. In essence, this is a musical drama that exposes the real contradictions of life. Bizet used the plot of P. Merimee's short story, but elevated its images to the meaning of poetic symbols. And at the same time, they are all “living” people with bright, unique characters. The composer introduces folk scenes with their spontaneous manifestation vitality, overflowing energy. The gypsy beauty Carmen, the bullfighter Escamillo, and the smugglers are perceived as part of this free element. Creating a “portrait” of the main character, Bizet uses the melodies and rhythms of habanera, seguidilla, polo, etc.; at the same time, he managed to penetrate deeply into the spirit of Spanish music. Jose and his fiancée Micaela belong to a completely different world - cozy, far from the storms. Their duet is kept in pastel colors, soft romantic intonations. But Jose is literally “infected” by Carmen’s passion, her strength and uncompromisingness. An “ordinary” love drama rises to the tragedy of a clash of human characters, the strength of which surpasses the fear of death and defeats it. Bizet sings of beauty, the greatness of love, the intoxicating feeling of freedom; without preconceived moralizing, he truthfully reveals the light, the joy of life and its tragedy. This again reveals a deep spiritual kinship with the author of Don Juan, the great Mozart.

A year after the unsuccessful premiere, Carmen was staged triumphantly on the largest stages in Europe. For the production at the Grand Opera in Paris, E. Guiraud replaced spoken dialogues with recitatives and introduced a number of dances (from other works by Bizet) into the last act. In this edition the opera is known to today's listeners. In 1878, P. Tchaikovsky wrote that “Carmen is in the full sense a masterpiece, that is, one of those few things that are destined to reflect to the greatest extent the musical aspirations of an entire era... I am convinced that years from now ten "Carmen" will be the most popular opera in the world..."

K. Zenkin

The best progressive traditions found expression in Bizet’s work French culture. This - highest point realistic aspirations in French music of the 19th century century. Bizet's works clearly depicted those features that Romain Rolland defined as typical national characteristics one of the sides of the French genius: “...heroic efficiency, intoxication of reason, laughter, passion for light.” This, according to the writer, is “the France of Rabelais, Moliere and Diderot, and in music... the France of Berlioz and Bizet.”

Bizet's short life was filled with ebullient, intense creative work. It took him a while to find himself. But extraordinary personality the artist’s spirit was manifested in everything he did, although at first his ideological and artistic quests still lacked purposefulness. Over the years, Bizet's interest in the life of the people became increasingly stronger. Bold approach to subjects everyday life helped him create images exactly snatched from surrounding reality, enrich contemporary art new themes and unusually truthful, strong means of depicting healthy, full-blooded feelings in all their diversity

The social upsurge at the turn of the 60s and 70s caused an ideological turning point in Bizet’s work and directed him to the heights of his mastery. “Content, content first!” - he exclaimed in one of his letters during these years. He is attracted to art by the scope of thought, the breadth of concept, and the truthfulness of life. In his only article, published in 1867, Bizet wrote: “I hate pedantry and false erudition... People create tricks instead of creating. There are fewer and fewer composers, but parties and sects are multiplying indefinitely. Art is becoming poorer to the point of complete poverty, but technology is enriched by verbosity... Let us be spontaneous, truthful: we will not demand from a great artist those feelings that he lacks, and we will use those that he possesses. When a passionate, violent, even rude temperament, like Verdi, gives art a living and strong work, molded from gold, dirt, bile and blood, we do not think of telling him coldly: “But, sir, this is not elegant.” - Exquisite?.. What about Michelangelo, Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Rabelais exquisite?..».

This breadth of views, but at the same time integrity, allowed Bizet to love and respect a lot in musical art. Along with Verdi, among the composers Bizet valued, Mozart, Rossini, and Schumann should be named. He didn’t know everything from Wagner’s operas (works from the post-Lohengrin period were not yet known in France), but he admired his genius. “The charm of his music is incredible, incomprehensible. This is voluptuousness, pleasure, tenderness, love!.. This is not the music of the future, for such words mean nothing, but this is... the music of all times, since it is beautiful” (from a letter of 1871). Bizet treated Berlioz with a feeling of deep respect, but he loved Gounod more and spoke with cordial goodwill about the successes of his contemporaries - Saint-Saens, Massenet and others.

But above all he placed Beethoven, whom he idolized, calling him Titan, Prometheus; “...in his music,” he said, “the will is always strong.” It was the will to life, to action that Bizet praised in his works, demanding that feelings be expressed by “strong means.” An enemy of vagueness and pretentiousness in art, he wrote: “beauty is the unity of content and form.” “Without form there is no style,” said Bizet. He demanded from his students that everything be “done firmly.” “Try to make your style more melodic, the modulations more defined and distinct.” “Be musical,” he added, “write first of all beautiful music" Such beauty and clarity, impulse, energy, strength and clarity of expression are inherent in the works of Bizet.

His main creative achievements are associated with the theater, for which he wrote five works (in addition, a number of works were not completed or, for one reason or another, were not staged). Attraction to theatrical and stage expressiveness, generally characteristic French music, very typical of Bizet. He once told Saint-Saëns: “I was not born for the symphony, I need the theater: without it I am nothing.” Bizet was right: it was not his instrumental works that brought him world fame, although their artistic merits are undoubted, but his latest works were the music for the drama “La Arlesienne” and the opera “Carmen”. In these works, Bizet's genius was fully revealed, his wise, clear and truthful skill in showing the great drama of people from the people, colorful pictures of life, its light and shadow sides. But the main thing is that with his music he perpetuated the unyielding will to happiness and an effective attitude towards life.

There is a singing teacher in the family. He was registered under the name Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet, but at baptism he received the name Georges, by which he was subsequently known. Bizet entered the Paris Conservatoire two weeks before he turned ten.

In 1857 he shared a prize with Charles Lecoq in a competition organized by Jacques Offenbach for the operetta " Wonderful doctor" and received the Rome Prize, which allowed him to live in Rome for three years, composing music and pursuing his education. The reporting work (the writing of which was mandatory for all laureates of the Rome Prize) was the opera “Don Procopio”. With the exception of a period spent in Rome, Bizet lived his entire life in Paris.

After a stay in Rome, he returned to Paris, where he devoted himself to writing music. In 1863 he wrote the opera The Pearl Fishers. During the same period, he wrote “The Beauty of Perth”, music for Alphonse Daudet’s play “La Arlesienne” and a piece for piano “Child’s Games”. He also wrote the romantic opera Djamile, usually regarded as the predecessor of Carmen. Bizet himself forgot about it, and the symphony was not remembered until 1935, when it was discovered in the library of the conservatory. When first presented, this work received praise from the early romantic period. The symphony is remarkable for its stylistic similarity to the music of Franz Schubert, which was almost unknown in Paris at the time, except perhaps for a few songs. In 1874-1875, the composer worked on Carmen. The opera premiered at the Opera-Comique theater in Paris on March 3, 1875 and ended in failure. Bizet did not complete his Second Symphony, Rome.

Essays (full list)

Operas

"Anastasi and Dmitry"
“Don Procopio” (opera buffa, in Italian, 1858-1859, staged 1906, Monte Carlo), also orchestrated by Leonid Feigin
“Love the Artist” (French L’Amour peintre, libretto by Bizet, after J.B. Molière, 1860, not finished, not published)
"Guzla Emir" (comic opera, 1861-1862)
“The Pearl Seekers” (French Les Pecheurs de perles, 1862-63, staged 1863, Théâtre Lyric, Paris)
“Ivan the Terrible” (French Ivan le Terrible, 1865, staged 1946, Mühringen Castle, Württemberg)
"Nicholas Flamel" (1866?, fragments)
“The Beauty of Perth” (French: La Jolie fille du Perth, 1866, staged 1867, “Théâtre Lyricique”, Paris)
“The Cup of the King of Thule” (French: La Coupe du roi de Thule, 1868, fragments)
"Clarissa Garlow" (comic opera, 1870-1871, fragments)
"Calandal" (comic opera, 1870), Griselda (comic opera, 1870-71, unfinished)
“Djamile” (comic opera, 1871, staged 1872, Opera Comique theater, Paris)
"Don Rodrigo" (1873, unfinished)
“Carmen” (dramatic opera, 1873-1874, staged 1875, Opera Comique theater, Paris; recitatives written by E. Guiraud, after Bizet’s death, for production in Vienna, 1875)

Operettas

Anastasia and Dmitry
Malbrough is going on a campaign (Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre, 1867, Athenaeum theater, Paris; Bizet owns the 1st act, the other 3 acts are by I. E. Legui, E. Jonas, L. Delibes)
Sol-si-re-pif-pan (1872, Chateau d'eau Theater, Pa.
Angel and Tobia (L’Ange et Tobia, circa 1855-1857)
Héloïse de Montfort (1855-1857)
The Enchanted Knight (Le Chevalier enchant?, 1855-57)
Erminia (1855-1857)
The Return of Virginia (Le Retour de Virginie, circa 1855-1857)
David (1856)
Clovis and Clotilde (1857)
Doctor Miracle (1857)
Song to the Age (Carmen seculaire, after Horace, 1860)
The Marriage of Prometheus (Les Noces de Promethee, 1867)

Alexandre Cesar Leopold Bizet(French: Alexandre-César-Léopold Bizet, received the name at baptism Georges, fr. Georges; October 25, 1838, Paris - June 3, 1875, Bougival) - French composer period of romanticism, author of orchestral works, romances, piano pieces, as well as operas, the most famous of which was “Carmen”.

He was born on October 25, 1838 in Paris in the family of singing teacher Adolphe Armand Bizet. He was registered under the name Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet, but at baptism he received the name Georges, by which he was later known. Initially he studied music with his mother Anna Leopoldina Aimé (nee Delsarte). Bizet entered the Paris Conservatoire two weeks before he turned 10 years old. He studied counterpoint and fugue with P. Zimmerman, as well as with his replacement, C. Gounod (later a friend of Bizet).

Already while studying at the conservatory (1848-1857), Bizet tried himself as a composer. During this period, he brilliantly mastered composing technique and performing skills. Franz Liszt, who heard Bizet perform his piano music, exclaimed: “ My God! I believed that this could be done by one person - me. But it turns out there are two of us!».

In 1857 he shared a prize with Charles Lecoq in a competition organized by Jacques Offenbach for the operetta Doctor Miracle and received the Prix de Rome. That same year, Bizet entered the cantata Clovis and Clotilde into competition, for which he also received the Prix de Rome, which allowed him to live in Rome for three years, composing music and pursuing his education. The reporting work (the writing of which was mandatory for all laureates of the Rome Prize) was the opera “Don Procopio”. The opera was unknown to the public until 1895, when the composer C. Malherbe published a description of “Don Procopio,” which he found in the archives of the deceased director of the conservatory, Aubert. In 1906, in Malherbe's version (with recitatives written by him), Bizet's first opera was staged at the Teatro Monte Carlo.

With the exception of a period spent in Rome, Bizet lived his entire life in Paris. After a stay in Rome, he returned to Paris, where he devoted himself to writing music. In 1863 he wrote the opera The Pearl Fishers. During the same period, he wrote “The Beauty of Perth” (1867), a piece for piano “Children’s Games” (1870), and music for Alphonse Daudet’s play “La Arlesienne” (1872). The premiere of "La Arlesienne" took place on October 11, 1872; Neither the play nor the music were successful with the public. The composer made a concert suite from the music for Arlesienne. In 1878, P. I. Tchaikovsky wrote to N. F. von Meck: “ Speaking of freshness in music, I recommend you the orchestral suite of the late Bizet “L" Arlesienne. It is a masterpiece of its kind.”. The second suite based on music for the play (“Pastoral”, “Intermezzo”, “Minuet”, “Farandola”) was composed by Guiraud after Bizet’s death.

In 1867, the magazine Revue Nationale et Etrangère offered Bizet a permanent collaboration as a music reviewer; Bizet's articles were published under the pseudonym Gaston de Betsy. He also wrote the romantic opera Djamile (1870), usually regarded as the predecessor of Carmen, and a symphony in C major. Bizet himself forgot about it, and the symphony was not remembered until 1935, when it was discovered in the library of the conservatory. The symphony is remarkable for its stylistic similarity to the music of Franz Schubert, which was almost unknown in Paris at that time, with the possible exception of a few songs. In 1874-1875, the composer worked on Carmen. In the summer of 1874, in Bougival, the composer finished the opera; the orchestration of the score took only two months. The opera premiered at the Opera-Comique theater in Paris on March 3, 1875 and ended in failure. After the premiere, Bizet was convinced that the work was a failure. He died of a heart attack just three months later, not knowing that Carmen would turn out to be the pinnacle of his success and forever be among the most recognizable and popular classical works peace. P.I. Tchaikovsky, who was a big fan of this opera, wrote: “... But here comes a Frenchman (whom I can boldly call a genius), for whom all these piquancies and spices are not the result of invention, but flow in a free stream, flatter the ear and at the same time touch and excite. He seems to be saying: “...you don’t want anything majestic, grandiose and strong, you want something pretty, here’s something nice for you, joli. Bizet is an artist who pays tribute to the depravity of the tastes of his age, but is warmed by true, genuine feeling and inspiration».

Shortly after the production of Carmen, Bizet became seriously ill, and at the beginning of June 1875 there was a sudden deterioration, as a result of which he died on June 3 in Bougival. After a temporary burial in the Montmartre cemetery, Bizet's ashes were transferred to the Père Lachaise cemetery, where many prominent artists are buried. After Bizet's death, his works, with the exception of Carmen, were generally not widely recognized, their manuscripts were distributed or lost, and the published versions of the works were often revised and changed by other authors. Only after many years of oblivion did his works begin to be performed more and more often, and only from the 20th century did the name of Georges Bizet stand worthily on a par with the names of others outstanding composers. In his 36 years of life, he did not have time to create his own music school and did not have any obvious disciples or followers. Bizet's premature death at the very beginning of his heyday mature creativity is assessed as a significant and irreparable loss for world classical music.

On June 3, 1869, Georges Bizet married Genevieve Halévy. cousin Ludovic Halévy - creator of the musical genre "operetta". In 1871, Georges and Genevieve had their only son, Jacques, who later became a close friend of Marcel Proust.

Memory

Municipal Conservatory (French) Conservatoire municipal du 20e Georges Bizet) in the XX arrondissement of Paris bears his name.
A square in Anderlecht (Brussels metropolitan area) is named in his honor.

Creation

Operas

“Don Procopio” (opera buffa, in Italian, 1858-1859, staged 1906, Monte Carlo), also orchestrated by Leonid Feigin
“Love the Artist” (French L’Amour peintre, libretto by Bizet, after J.B. Molière, 1860, not finished, not published)
"Guzla Emir" (comic opera, 1861-1862)
“The Pearl Seekers” (French Les Pecheurs de perles, 1862-1863, staged 1863, “Théâtre Lyricique”, Paris
Ivan IV (1862-1865), staged in 1951 at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux
"Nicola Flamel" (1866, fragments)
“The Beauty of Perth” (French: La Jolie fille du Perth, 1866, staged 1867, “Théâtre Lyricique”, Paris)
“The Cup of the King of Thule” (French: La Coupe du roi de Thule, 1868, fragments)
"Clarissa Garlow" (comic opera, 1870-1871, fragments)
"Calandar" (comic opera, 1870), Griselda (comic opera, 1870-1871, unfinished)
“Djamile” (comic opera, 1871, staged 1872, Opera Comique theater, Paris)
"Don Rodrigo" (1873, unfinished)
“Carmen” (dramatic opera, 1873-1874, staged 1875, Opera Comique theater, Paris; recitatives written by E. Guiraud, after the death of Bizet, for production in Vienna, 1875)

Operettas

Anastasia and Dmitry
Malbrough is going on a campaign (Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre, 1867, Athenaeum theater, Paris; Bizet owns the 1st act, the other 3 acts are by I. E. Legui, E. Jonas, L. Delibes)
Sol-si-re-pif-pan (1872, Chateau d'eau Theater, Pas.)
Angel and Tobia (L’Ange et Tobia, circa 1855-1857)
Héloïse de Montfort (1855-1857)
The Enchanted Knight (Le Chevalier enchanté, 1855-1857)
Erminia (1855-1857)
The Return of Virginia (Le Retour de Virginie, circa 1855-1857)
David (1856)
Clovis and Clotilde (1857)
Doctor Miracle (1857)
Song to the Age (Carmen seculaire, after Horace, 1860)
The Marriage of Prometheus (Les Noces de Promethee, 1867)

Odes-symphonies

Ulysses and Circe (after Homer, 1859)
Vasco da Gama (1859-1860)

Oratorio

Genevieve of Paris (1874-1875)

Works for choir and orchestra (or piano)

Students' choir (Choeur d'etudiants, male choir, before 1855)
Waltz (C major, 1855)
Te Deum (for soloists, chorus and orchestra, 1858)
Bay of Bahia (Le Golfe de Bahia, for soprano or tenor, chorus and piano, circa 1865; music used in the opera “Ivan the Terrible”, there is a reworking for piano)
Ave Maria (for choir and orchestra, lyrics by C. Grandmougin, after 1867)
Song of the Spinning Wheel (La Chanson du Rouet, for soloist, choir and piano, after 1867), etc.

For unaccompanied choir

Saint John of Patmos (Saint-Jean de Pathmos, for male choir, lyrics by V. Hugo, 1866)

Works for orchestra

Symphonies (No. 1, C major, Youth, 1855, score published and performed 1935; No. 2, 1859, destroyed by Bizet)
Rome (C-dur, 1871, originally - Memories of Rome, 1866-1868, performed 1869)
Overtures, including Motherland (Patrie, 1873, performed 1874)
Suites, including the Little Suite (Petite suite, from the piano duets of Children's Games, 1871, performed 1872), suites from Arlesian (No. 1, 1872; No. 2, composed by E. Guiraud, 1885)

Works for solo piano

Great Concert Waltz (E major, 1854)
Fantastic hunt
(Chasse fantastique, 1865)
Rhine Songs (Chant du Rhin, cycle of 6 songs, 1865)
Concert Chromatic Variations (1868)

Piano duets

Children's Games (Jeux d'enfants, 12 pieces for 2 pianos, 1871)

Works for voice and piano

Including song cycles Leaves from the album (Feuilles d’album, 6 songs, 1866)
Pyrenees Songs (Chants dee Pyrenees, 6 folk songs, 1867)

Music for a dramatic performance

Arlesienne (drama by A. Daudet, 1872, Vaudeville Theater, Paris)

(1838-1875) French composer

Georges Bizet was born on October 25, 1838 in Paris. The future composer received his first music lessons from his musician parents. The boy's outstanding abilities were revealed early: at the age of four he already knew music, and at nine he entered the Paris Conservatory. The boy's phenomenal hearing, memory, and brilliant performing and composing abilities delighted his teachers. Bizet wanted to become a universal musician and even practiced playing the organ.

Even then, his talent manifested itself in various areas musical creativity. While still at the conservatory, he composed a symphony, 3 operettas, several cantatas and overtures, as well as piano pieces (including a cycle of 12 pieces for 4 hands, “Children’s Games”). Soon Bizet brilliantly graduated from the Paris Conservatory, where he studied famous composers C. Gounod and F. Halévy.

The young musician repeatedly received prizes at competitions at the conservatory, and upon completion of the course in 1857, he became a laureate of a competition in Rome and was awarded the right to spend 3 years in Italy to improve his music. For him it was a time of intense creative search. Bizet tried himself in various musical genres: wrote a symphonic suite, cantata, operetta, piano pieces, romances.

But, as it turned out, musical theater became his true calling. True, the path to creating your own original works was not easy. Upon returning from Italy, Bizet composed the opera “The Pearl Fishers” (1863) on an exotic plot telling about love drama Leila and Nadir, and then “The Beauty of Perth” (1867) based on the novel by Walter Scott. Both works were received coolly, but the composer did not give up his search. “I’m going through a crisis,” he said in those years.

New impressions caused by the events of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and the Paris Commune led to the creation of the lyrical opera “Djamile” (1872) based on the plot from the poem “Namuna” by A. de Musset. This opera marked the beginning of the composer's period of creative maturity.

Following the then fashionable passion for oriental exoticism, Bizet conveyed in his works the deep psychological experiences of the characters and showed himself to be a master of romantic opera. At the same time, he composed music for A. Daudet’s drama “The Arlesian”. Rich in colorful folk paintings, truthful and bright images heroes, it paved the way for the opera Carmen, which was Bizet’s greatest creative achievement and at the same time became his swan song.

Bizet began working on Carmen in 1873. Its plot is borrowed from the novella French writer Prosper Merimee, and the libretto was written by experienced writers A. Melyak and L. Halevi. Bizet boldly departed from the original and created a completely new work. “Carmen” is interesting not only for its realistic plot and romantic intrigue, but also for its bright, deep, dramatic music. The composer made the images of Merimee's heroes deeper and more original, giving each of them a musical characteristic that was refined in form. That is why “Carmen” is still on the world stage. opera stage. According to P. I. Tchaikovsky, “Carmen” is destined to become the most popular opera in the world.”

Its premiere took place in March 1875. But, despite the fact that wonderful singers sang in the play, the production failed. Bright, expressive music was too unusual for the Parisian public. Bizet was shocked by what happened, because he had no doubt of success. Sudden illness broke him, and just three months after the premiere of Carmen, on June 3, 1875, he died in the Paris suburb of Bougival.

Georges Bizet gained worldwide fame as the author of one, albeit very popular, work. In the history of music, such cases are rare. This work was the opera "Carmen".

Bizet was born in Paris on October 25, 1838. They called him sonorous names of three commanders: Alexander - Caesar - Leopold, but in the family they called him Georges. With this new name, Bizet went down in history. His parents were musical: his father was a singing teacher, his mother played the piano and became his first music teacher; They played a lot of music in the house.

The boy's outstanding abilities were revealed early: at the age of four he already knew music, at ten he entered the Paris Conservatory, where he stayed for nine years. Despite the fact that, as Bizet later said, he “devoted himself to music only reluctantly” - he was more attracted to literature - his studies at the conservatory were successful. The young musician repeatedly received prizes at internal conservatory competitions - in piano and organ playing, polyphony and composition, which ended in 1857 with the receipt of the Grand Prize of Rome, which granted the right to a long trip abroad.

Phenomenally gifted musical ear, memory, creative intuition, Bizet easily mastered the knowledge that the conservatory provided. True, the composition theory course suffered from dogmatism. Bizet studied most outside the conservatory with Gounod, with whom, despite the significant difference in age, he established warm, friendly relations. But we must also pay tribute to his immediate teacher Fromental Halévy, a subtle and serious musician, with whom Bizet later became related by marrying his daughter.

During his years at the conservatory, Bizet created many works. The best among them is a symphony written by a seventeen-year-old author in a very short time - in seventeen days. This symphony, first published in 1935, is now successfully performed. Her music attracts with its classical precision of form, clarity and liveliness of expression, and light coloring, which would later become an integral quality of Bizet’s individual style. In the year he graduated from the conservatory, having composed a cantata on an ancient legendary plot, he took part in a competition announced by Offenbach to write a one-act operetta. Together with the work of Lecoq, who later became famous in this genre, the prize was awarded to Bizet's operetta Doctor Miracle.

However, if by this time Bizet the composer was spoken of only as a promising talent, then as a pianist he achieved universal recognition. Later, in 1863, Berlioz wrote: “Bizet reads scores incomparably... His pianistic talent is so great that in the piano transcription of orchestral scores, which he does at first sight, no difficulties can stop him. After Liszt and Mendelssohn, there are not many performers of his strength.”

Bizet spent 1857-1860 as a laureate of the Conservatory in Italy. These are years of greedy absorption of various life impressions, among which, however, musical ones stood at the forefront. last place. “Bad taste poisons Italy,” Bizet complained. “This is a lost country for art.” But he read a lot, traveled, got acquainted with the life of peasants and shepherds. His creative imagination, as it will be later, lights up with many plans. “My head is full of Shakespeare... But where can I find a librettist!” - Bizet complains. He is also interested in the stories of Moliere, Hugo, Hoffmann, and Homer. One feels that he has not yet found a topic close to himself, and is creatively scattered. But one thing is clear - his interests lie in the field of theater music.

This was partly due to practical considerations - it is easier to achieve success here. Bizet half-jokingly wrote to his mother: “When I get 100 thousand francs (that is, I provide for myself until death), dad and I will stop giving lessons. We'll start life as a rentier, which isn't a bad thing at all. 100 thousand francs is nothing: two small successes in comic opera. A success like “The Prophet” (Meyerbeer’s opera) brings in almost a million. So, this is not a castle in the air!..”

But it was not only mercantile considerations, due to the family’s more than modest material resources, that prompted him to do this. Musical theater attracted Bizet, his letters are full of questions about Parisian opera premieres. As a result, he decided to write a comic opera called Don Procopio. The score sent to Paris did not receive approval from the venerable professors, although the author’s “casual and brilliant manner, fresh and bold style” was still noted. The subject matter of this essay caused severe condemnation. “We must point out that M. Bizet,” we read in the conservatory’s review, “is that he presented a comic opera when the rule required a mass.”

But clerical subjects are alien to Bizet. And after a short creative pause, he began to write the symphony-cantata “Vasco da Gama” based on the plot of “The Lusiad” - the famous epic poem by the classic of Portuguese literature Luis Camões. He turned to the vocal-symphonic genre, widespread in France since the time of Berlioz, and to oriental themes, the popularity of which was strengthened by the success of Félicien David's ode-symphony “The Desert” (1844). Next, Bizet created a number of orchestral pieces, some of which would later be included in the symphonic suite “Memories of Rome.” Now the peculiar features of the composer’s style with his desire to embody colorful, colorful folk scenes and pictures of life, full of dynamics and movement, are more clearly evident.

After a three-year stay in Italy, Bizet returned to Paris, confident in his abilities. But bitter disappointment awaited him: the path to public recognition in the Second Empire was difficult and thorny. Begin difficult years struggle for existence.

Bizet contains seven private lessons, composing music in a light genre, transcriptions and proofreading of other people's works. In his letters we find exciting lines: “I haven’t slept for three nights, my soul is gloomy, and tomorrow I need to write fun dance music.” Or in another letter: “I work like a black man, I’m exhausted, I’m literally torn to pieces, I’m stunned, finishing a four-hand adaptation of Hamlet (A. Thom’s opera). What a job! I just finished romances for a new publisher. I'm afraid it turned out mediocre, but I need money. Money, always money - to hell!..”

Bizet’s entire subsequent life passed in such an overstrain of creative forces. This was the reason for such early death genius composer.

Bizet did not choose the easier path in art. He abandoned his career as a pianist, which undoubtedly promised him faster and more effective success. But Bizet wanted to devote himself completely to composing and therefore discarded everything that could interfere with it. He was attracted by many and varied operatic ideas, some were completed, but the demanding author took the already completed scores from the theater. This happened, for example, with the opera “Ivan the Terrible,” discovered only in the 30s of our century. However, two operas were staged.

In 1863, the premiere of the opera “The Pearl Fishers” took place.

Its plot is traditional. This was an oriental theme that was fashionable in France at that time. Bizet's opera is among the works that open this list. Its action takes place on the island of Ceylon, among pearl divers. Despite the formulaic dramatic situations and the conventionality of the stage action, Bizet’s music convinces with its melodic richness, the naturalness and beauty of the vocal parts, and the fullness of its sense of life. This was not lost on Berlioz, who noted in his review that the opera’s score “contains many wonderful expressive moments, full of fire and rich color.” Crowd scenes, lyrical or dramatic episodes operas.

However, what was fresh and new in Bizet’s work went unnoticed. The opera was not a great success, although it ran for eighteen performances. With the exception of Berlioz, criticism reacted coldly to her.

The premiere of the next opera, “The Beauty of Perth,” took place in 1867. Plot novel of the same name Walter Scott appeared in the libretto in a distorted, primitive form; there is especially a lot of cliche and cliché in the final act. “This is a spectacular play,” wrote Bizet while working on the opera, “but the characters are poorly outlined.” The composer failed to complete them with his music. At the same time, in comparison with its predecessor, this opera contains many concessions to the prevailing tastes of the bourgeois public, which caused a sharp rebuke from some progressive critics. Bizet was forced to agree with them with bitterness.

Failure temporarily disarmed Bizet. "I'm going through a crisis," he says. In the autumn of the same 1872, the premiere of another work by Bizet took place. This is music for Alphonse Daudet’s play “The Arlesian,” magnificent in color and expressiveness. The composer filled the performance with a large number musical numbers, sometimes representing artistically complete plays.

Music with such outstanding artistic merit survived Daudet's play, establishing itself on the concert stage. Two suites from Les Arlesiennes - the first composed by the author himself (1872), the second by his friend Ernest Guiraud (1885) - were included in the golden fund of world symphonic literature.

Bizet was aware of the large role the music for Le Arlesienne played in his creative evolution. He wrote:

“Whatever happens, I am satisfied that I have entered on this path, which I must not leave and from which I will never leave. I'm sure I've found my way." This road led him to Carmen.

Bizet became interested in the plot of “Carmen” while working on the opera “Djamile”, and in 1873-1874 he began to work on finishing the libretto and writing music. The plot of the opera is borrowed from Prosper Merimee’s short story “Carmen”, or more precisely, from its third chapter, which contains Jose’s story about the drama of his life. Experienced masters of theatrical dramaturgy, Meliac and Halevi, created an excellent, scenically effective libretto, the dramatic situations and text of which clearly outline the characters of the characters in the play. On March 3, 1875, the premiere took place at the Opera Comic Theater. Three months later, on June 3, Bizet suddenly died, without having time to complete a number of his other works.

His premature death was probably hastened by the social scandal that erupted around Carmen. The jaded bourgeoisie - ordinary visitors to boxes and stalls - found the plot of the opera obscene, and the music too serious and complex. Press reviews were almost unanimously negative. At the beginning of the next year, 1876, “Carmen” disappeared for a long time from the repertoire of Parisian theaters, and at the same time its triumphant success began on the theatrical stage of foreign countries.

Tchaikovsky immediately noted its outstanding artistic value. Already in 1875 he had the clavier “Carmen”, at the beginning of 1876 he saw it on the stage of the Parisian “Opera-Comique”. In 1877, Tchaikovsky wrote: “...I learned it by heart, all from beginning to end.” And in 1880 he stated: “In my opinion, this is in the full sense of the word a masterpiece, that is, one of those few things that are destined to reflect to the greatest extent the musical aspirations of an entire era.” And then he prophetically predicted: “I am convinced that in ten years Carmen will be the most popular opera in the world...”

Bizet's music endowed Carmen with features folk character. The introduction of folk scenes, which occupy an important place in the opera, gave a different light and a different flavor to Merimee’s novella. The image of the heroine is also permeated with the power of love of life radiated from folk scenes. The glorification of open, simple and strong feelings, a direct, impulsive attitude towards life is the main feature of Bizet’s opera, its high ethical value. “Carmen,” wrote Romain Rolland, “is all outside, all life, all light without shadows, without understatement.”

Bizet's music further emphasized the contrast and dynamics of dramatic development: it is characterized by liveliness, brilliance, and variety of movements. These qualities, typical of the composer, perfectly corresponded to the depiction of the action of the Spanish plot. Only in rare cases, using folk melodies, Bizet aptly conveyed the Spanish national flavor. Historical significance Bizet's opera not only in its enduring artistic value, but also in the fact that for the first time on the stage of the opera stage, the drama of ordinary people was depicted with such skill, affirming the ethical rights and dignity of man, glorifying the people as the source of life, light, joy.