Georges Bizet - Bizet: L'Arlésienne/Carmen [CD]

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Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875)L'Arlesienne Suite No.1 br>Prelude Minuet Adagietto Carillon Suite No.2 Pastorale Intermezzo Minuet FarandoleThe French composer Georges Bizet wasborn in 1838, the child of musical parents, who did a great deal to encouragehis interest in music, distracting him from other pursuits by hiding books fromhim. In 1848 he entered the Conservatoire in Paris, where he became a pupil ofthe composer Gounod, while distinguishing himself as a pianist under Marmontel.In 1857 Bizet won the Prix de Rome, theprize awarded to those young composers, painters and writers able to pass therigorous scrutiny of the examining committee, and in accordance with the termsof the award was able to study in Rome. His return to Paris in 1860 was tobring disappointment. He had some success with earlier operas, but it wasCarmen, a work that was enjoying its first run in Paris at the time of hisdeath, that in the end had the profoundest effect on the public, arousing equalmeasures of enthusiasm and hostility.L'Arlesienne(The Girl from Arles) was the result of a collaboration in 1872 between Bizetand the writer Alphonse Daudet, an attempt to create again the form ofmelodrama, a combination of music and theatre. For this purpose Daudet chose totreat the story of the vain love and suicide of a young relative of theProvencal poet Mistral. Frederi, the lover, is infatuated with the girl fromArles, who is never seen on stage, but finds that she is the mistress of ascoundrel, Mitifio. His mother persuades him to marry Vivette, a girl who haslong loved him, but on the eve of his wedding Frederi meets Mitifio, remembershis old love and kills himself.In the theatre L'Arlesienne wasunsuccessful, partly because the audience expected a straight play, and tookexception to music that some labelled Wagnerian. From the incidental musicBizet drew a suite (Suite No. 1), rewriting and rescoring the pieces for alarger orchestra than his original band of 25 players. The Prelude andAdagietto, the latter originally for string quartet, are simplyre-orchestrated, while other changes were made in the Minuet, originally anintermezzo, and to the Carillon, to which 'he added a middle section drawn fromelsewhere in the original score. The suite won immediate success in the concerthall. The second suite was arranged by Bizet's friend Ernest Guiraud after thecomposer's death.Carmen Suite No.1 Prelude Aragonaise Intermezzo Seguidilla Les dragons de Alcala Marche du toreadorSuite No.2 Marches des contrabandiers Habanera Nocturne Garde montant Danse bohemienneIt is difficult for us to understand therelative failure of the opera Carmen, when it was first staged in Parisin 1875. Bizet had enjoyed some intermittent success in the theatre, but it wasabove all with Prosper Merimee's novel that he was to find a subject fullysuited to his abilities.Thestory of the opera shocked audiences. It dealt with the love affair between thefactory-girl Carmen and the toreador Escamillo, her flirtation with

Carmen - Suite No. 1: Prelude

Carmen - Suite No. 1: Aragonaise

Carmen - Suite No. 1: Intermezzo

Carmen - Suite No. 1: Seguidilla

Carmen - Suite No. 1: Les Dragons de Alcala

Carmen - Suite No. 1: Marche du toreador

Carmen - Suite No. 2: Marche des contrabandiers

Carmen - Suite No. 2: Habanera

Carmen - Suite No. 2: Nocturne

Carmen - Suite No. 2: Chanson du Toreador

Carmen - Suite No. 2: Garde montant

Carmen - Suite No. 2: Danse bohemienne

L'Arlesienne - Suite No. 1: Prelude

L'Arlesienne - Suite No. 1: Minuet

L'Arlesienne - Suite No. 1: Adagietto

L'Arlesienne - Suite No. 1: Carillon

L'Arlesienne - Suite No. 2: Pastorale

L'Arlesienne - Suite No. 2: Intermezzo

L'Arlesienne - Suite No. 2: Minuet

L'Arlesienne - Suite No. 2: Farandole