Bizet

Bizet, Georges, was born at Paris in 1838, and received a musical education at the Conservatoire under Halevy and in Italy. He came out first as an operatic composer with Les Pecheurs de Perles, in 1863. In this, and in the Jolie Fille de Perth (1867), he showed that Wagner's influence had extended into France. A little later he furnished the music for Daudet's L'Arlesienne, which was very popular with his own countrymen. By far his most brilliant and original work is Carmen, produced in 1875. The work gave every reason to hope that greater things were in store, when the gifted author died suddenly from heart disease within a few weeks of the appearance of his piece.