Bizet was born on 25th October 1838 in Paris. He was registered with the legal name Alexandre-César-Léopold Bizet, but was baptised Georges Bizet and was always known by the latter name. A child prodigy, he entered the prestigious Paris Conservatory of Music a fortnight before his tenth birthday.
In 1857 he shared a prize offered by Jacques Offenbach for a setting of the one-act operetta Le docteur Miracle, and won the Prix de Rome. As per the conditions of the scholarship, he studied in Rome for three years. There, his talent began to mature with such works as the opera Don Procopio. Apart from this stay in Rome, Bizet lived in the Paris area for his entire life.
On his return from Rome, he dedicated himself to composition. In 1863 he composed the opera Les pêcheurs de perles for the Theatre-Lyrique. During this period Bizet also wrote the opera La jolie fille de Perth, his well-known L'arlésienne (written as incidental music for a play), and the piano piece Jeux d'enfants. He also wrote the romantic opera Djamileh, which is often seen as a percursor of Carmen. His first symphony, the symphony in C major, was written at the Paris Conservatory when he was only seventeen years old, evidently as a student assignment. It seems that Bizet completely forgot about it himself, and it was not discovered again until 1935, in the archives of the Conservatory library. Upon its first performance, it was immediately hailed as a junior masterwork and a welcome addition to the early Romantic period repertoire. he symphony is noteworthy for bearing a strong stylistic resemblance to the music of Franz Schubert, whose work was virtually unknown in Paris at that time (with the possible exception of a few of his songs). A second symphony, "Roma" was not completed.
Bizet's best-known work is his 1875 opera, Carmen, which was based on an 1846 novel of the same name by Prosper Mérimée. Influenced by Giuseppe Verdi, Bizet composed the title role in Carmen for a mezzo-soprano. The opera was not an immediate success, and Bizet became despondent over the perceived failure, but praise came from such luminaries as Camille Saint-Saëns, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Claude Debussy, who recognised its greatness. Their views were prophetic, as the public eventually made Carmen one of the most popular works in operatic history.
Although best known as a composer, Bizet was also a fine pianist, whose playing was praised by no less a judge than Franz Liszt. After Bizet flawlessly sightread a complex piece, Liszt said he considered him one of the three finest pianists in Europe.
Bizet had long suffered from quinsy, a painful inflammation of the tonsils associated with angina, and never got to enjoy Carmen's success. Just a few months after the opera's debut, he died on his sixth wedding anniversary, 3rd June 1875, at the early age of thirty-six, the official cause of death being listed as a failed heart due to "acute articular rheumatism". He was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.
Carmen — Suite
Georges Bizet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Et c'est bien en vain qu'on l'appelle s'il lui convient de refuser
Rien n'y fait, menace ou prière, l'une parle bien, l'autre se tait
Et c'est l'autre que je préfère, elle n'a rien dit, mais elle me plaît
L'amour est un oiseau rebelle
que nul ne peut apprivoiser
c'est bien en vain qu'on
L'amour est enfant de Bohème; il n'a jamais connu de loi
Si tu ne m'aimes pas je t'aime; si je t'aime prends garde à toi!
Prends garde à toi!
Si tu ne m'aimes pas, si tu ne m'aimes pas je t'aime
Prends garde à toi!
Mais si je t'aime, si je t'aime, prends garde à toi!
L'amour est enfant de Bohème,
Il n'a jamais jamais connu de loi
Si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime
Si je t'aime, prends garde à toi
Prends garde à toi!
Si tu ne m'aimes pas, si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime
Prends garde à toi!
Mais si je t'aime, si je t'aime, prends garde à toi!
L'oiseau que tu croyais surprendre battit de l'aile et s'envola
L'amour est loin, tu peux l'attendre : tu ne l'attends pas, il est là
Tout autour de toi, vite vite il vient, s'en va, puis il revient
Tu crois le tenir, il t'évite, tu crois l'éviter, il te tient!
tout autour de toi vite vite,
il vient, s'en va, puis il revient
Tu crois le tenir, il t'évite
Tu crois l'éviter, il te tient!
The lyrics to Georges Bizet's "Carmen" capture the essence of the rebellious nature of love. The opening lines, "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle que nul ne peut apprivoiser" (Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame), set the tone for the rest of the song. Love is depicted as a powerful force that cannot be controlled or predicted. It refuses to bow down to threats or prayers and keeps its own silence. The singer expresses a preference for the mysterious and unpredictable nature of love, even if it remains unspoken.
The second verse continues to explore the untamed nature of love, describing it as a child of Bohemia, free from any rules or constraints. The singer declares their love for someone, but with a warning: if they are loved in return, there may be consequences. Love is portrayed as both alluring and potentially dangerous. The back-and-forth repetition of "Si tu ne m'aimes pas, si tu ne m'aimes pas je t'aime, prends garde à toi!" (If you don't love me, if you don't love me, I love you, be careful!) intensifies the emotional tension and captures the complex dynamics of love.
Line by Line Meaning
L'amour est un oiseau rebelle que nul ne peut apprivoiser
Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame
Et c'est bien en vain qu'on l'appelle s'il lui convient de refuser
And it is in vain that we call it if it chooses to refuse
Rien n'y fait, menace ou prière, l'une parle bien, l'autre se tait
Nothing works, whether it be threat or prayer, one speaks well, the other remains silent
Et c'est l'autre que je préfère, elle n'a rien dit, mais elle me plaît
And it is the one who remains silent that I prefer, she may not have said anything, but she pleases me
L'amour est enfant de Bohème; il n'a jamais connu de loi
Love is the child of Bohemia; it has never known any law
Si tu ne m'aimes pas je t'aime; si je t'aime prends garde à toi!
If you don't love me, I love you; if I love you, beware!
Prends garde à toi!
Beware!
Si tu ne m'aimes pas, si tu ne m'aimes pas je t'aime
If you don't love me, if you don't love me, I love you
Prends garde à toi!
Beware!
Mais si je t'aime, si je t'aime, prends garde à toi!
But if I love you, if I love you, beware!
L'oiseau que tu croyais surprendre battit de l'aile et s'envola
The bird that you thought to surprise flapped its wings and flew away
L'amour est loin, tu peux l'attendre : tu ne l'attends pas, il est là
Love is far away, you can wait for it: when you don't expect it, it is there
Tout autour de toi, vite vite il vient, s'en va, puis il revient
All around you, quickly quickly it comes, goes away, and then returns
Tu crois le tenir, il t'évite, tu crois l'éviter, il te tient!
You think you have it, it avoids you, you think you avoid it, it holds you!
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mark Moore
I return to this performance time and time again. It's so refreshing to see a youth orchestra perform with such aplomb. If one of those were my kids I'd be standing up shouting "That's my kid up there, everyone!".
Pochpoch Glx
The same feelings
Mary Ramos
This is one of my most favorite suites and it is a BLAST to play! I love how every instrument has its little time to shine.
Ebe S.
As always, Zevnikov delighting us with his skills as director and his talented musicians. Bravo!👏👏👏 Regards from Canada
zevnikov
Ebe thank you for your nice compliment. Hugs from Slovenia
Roger Auger
Such talent. Makes me wish I had studied like these youth. 🙂 Well done! 👏 A Choir of Angels too! 💓
Kenneth Pack
It would be nice to get the entire concert at one time. my God these kids are sooo good!
Therezinha de Almeida
essa ópera de Bizet é maravilhosa e a orquestra tambem, é ótima.
Jorma Laitala
The most loved opera ever composed and these young artists are making it even more loveable.
Mike Gross
This brought tears to my eyes watching these young people, so involved in what they were doing and so talented in each ones instrument! I hope they each one went on to bigger orchestras and stayed with classical music because it is slowly fading away here in the states.