Composer of the Month 8/2013: Georges Bizet (selected by Peter van Dessel / Belgium)

Ajman 1.3.1969 The video shows Anna Caterina Antonacci with the aria "Habanera" from Bizet's opera "Carmen" in a production of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. The French composer Georges Bizet was born on 25 October 1838 in Paris. At the age of 10 he became student at the Music Conservatory in Paris, studied under Fromental Halévy and composed his first symphony at age 16. In 1857 he won the Prix de Rome and a three year scholarship for studying in Rome. After returning to Paris, he composed several operas for the Théâtre Lyrique and in 1872 the popular "L'Arlésienne" for a theater play by Alphonse Daudet. The most famous work of Georges Bizet is the opera "Carmen" composed in 1875. The opera was indeed initially not well received by the audience, but now is one of the most popular works in the entire opera literature. George George Bizet did not live to see the success of "Carmen". He died at the age of 36 on 3 June 1875 in Bougival, near Paris of a heart attack. In 2013 the music world celebrates the 175th birth anniversary of the composer. More composer can be found in the members only section