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.
Gypsy Song
Georges Bizet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
avec un éclat métallique,
et sur cette étrange musique
les zingarellas se levaient.
Tambours de basque allaient leur train,
et les guitares forcenées
grinçaient sous des mains obstinées,
même chanson, même refrain,
même chanson, même refrain.
Tra la la la
tra la la la
tra la la la
tra la la la la la la la.
Les anneaux de cuivre et d'argent
reluisaient sur les peaux bistrées;
d'orange ou de rouge zébrées
les étoffes flottaient au vent.
La danse au chant se mariait,
la danse au chant se mariait;
d'abord indécise et timide,
plus vive ensuite et plus rapide...
cela montait, montait, montait, montait!
Les Bohémiens, à tour de bras,
de leurs instruments faisaient rage,
et cet éblouissant tapage
ensorcelait les zingaras.
Sous le rhythme de la chanson,
sous le rhythme de la chanson,
ardentes, folles, enfiévrées,
elles se laissaient, enivrées,
emporter par le tourbillon!
The lyrics to Georges Bizet's Gypsy Song describe a colorful and lively scene of gypsy women dancing to the music played by gypsy men. The sound of tambourines and guitars fills the air with a metallic and frenzied quality, as the dancers' colorful clothes flap in the wind. The lyrics highlight the union of music and dance, as the two elements interweave and intensify each other. The dance starts out hesitant and timid but builds up to a frenzy that carries the women away in a whirlwind.
The song portrays gypsy life as vibrant and passionate, with the music and dance serving as a representation of the unbridled energy and spirit of the gypsy culture. The lyrics describe the spectacle of the gypsies performing, as they tap into the raw emotions that drive their music and dance. The repetition of the refrain, "Tra la la la," adds to the sense of hypnotic, sensory overload, as the music and dance reach a fever pitch.
Overall, the lyrics to Georges Bizet's Gypsy Song celebrate the vitality and passion of gypsy culture and provide a vivid description of the music and dance that defines it.
Line by Line Meaning
Les tringles des sistres tintaient
The metal rods of the tambourine jingled
avec un éclat métallique,
with a metallic sparkle,
et sur cette étrange musique
and on this strange music
les zingarellas se levaient.
the female gypsies arose.
Tambours de basque allaient leur train,
The Basque drums went along their way,
et les guitares forcenées
and the frantic guitars
grinçaient sous des mains obstinées,
creaked under their persistent hands,
même chanson, même refrain,
same song, same refrain,
Tra la la la
Tra la la la
tra la la la
tra la la la
tra la la la
tra la la la
tra la la la la la la la.
tra la la la la la la la.
Les anneaux de cuivre et d'argent
The copper and silver rings
reluisaient sur les peaux bistrées;
shone on the tanned skins;
d'orange ou de rouge zébrées
orange or red striped
les étoffes flottaient au vent.
the fabrics fluttered in the wind.
La danse au chant se mariait,
The dance married the song,
la danse au chant se mariait;
the dance married the song;
d'abord indécise et timide,
at first uncertain and timid,
plus vive ensuite et plus rapide...
faster and more intense...
cela montait, montait, montait, montait!
it rose, rose, rose, rose!
Les Bohémiens, à tour de bras,
The Bohemians, with all their might,
de leurs instruments faisaient rage,
raged with their instruments,
et cet éblouissant tapage
and this dazzling din
ensorcelait les zingaras.
enchanted the gypsies.
Sous le rythme de la chanson,
Under the rhythm of the song,
sous le rythme de la chanson,
under the rhythm of the song,
ardentes, folles, enfiévrées,
ardent, crazy, feverish,
elles se laissaient, enivrées,
they let themselves get intoxicated,
emporter par le tourbillon!
carried away by the whirlwind!
Contributed by Charlie R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Marina Novak
Les tringles des sistres tintaient
avec un éclat métallique,
et sur cette étrange musique
les zingarellas se levaient.
Tambours de basque allaient leur train,
et les guitares forcenées
grinçaient sous des mains obstinées,
même chanson, même refrain,
même chanson, même refrain.
Tra la la la
tra la la la
tra la la la
tra la la la la la la la.
Les anneaux de cuivre et d’argent
reluisaient sur les peaux bistrées;
d’orange ou de rouge zébrées
les étoffes flottaient au vent.
La danse au chant se mariait,
la danse au chant se mariait;
d’abord indécise et timide,
plus vive ensuite et plus rapide...
cela montait, montait, montait, montait!
Les Bohémiens, à tour de bras,
de leurs instruments faisaient rage,
et cet éblouissant tapage
ensorcelait les zingaras.
Sous le rhythme de la chanson,
sous le rhythme de la chanson,
ardentes, folles, enfiévrées,
elles se laissaient, enivrées,
emporter par le tourbillon!
Sonny Yoon
Amazing voice!!!
Eileenuleenweleen
I cry everytime I hear this. It gives me goosebumps. What a legend!!!!
A Higgins
The best voice have ever heard, bravo
Sylvan Mingelen
Also pavavorotti is good, very good
TheSweetlove51
Maravillosa , la divina !!!
Salvina Santoro
Sicuramente il teatro e'andato in delirio,io sono fiera che la Signora Callas abbia cantato al Massimo Bellini di Catania e nel coro c'era Pavarotti,due meravigliosi grandi.
Mauricio Sángari
Here, Maria's voice was already in decline, yet still amazing perfomance....
Correo privado
Callas is never on decline.
Max Cornise
Your accuracy is in decline!
emmi yokoi
Beautiful