EBOOK Bizet

Today Georges Bizet is most immediately recognized as the composer of the acclaimed opera Carmen. One of the most frequently performed operas for over a century, Carmen explores concepts such as the femme fatale and murderous jealousy with vivacity, color, and a wealth of melody. Yet it is only one act in Bizet&'s story. In Bizet, renowned musicologist Hugh Macdonald goes beyond the composer&'s most famous opera to take an in-depth look at his entire life and oeuvre. In so doing, Macdonald identifies a number of previously unknown pieces by Bizet, assembling the first comprehensive catalogue of the composer&'s work.  Incorporating these little-known pieces with a thorough reading of primary sources, Macdonald considers the latest in Bizet scholarship to create a complete biography of the composer. Revealing the true extent of Bizet&'s work as arranger and transcriber, Macdonald sheds light on the composer&'s complex relationships with his contemporaries, and traces the strange misrepresentation of Bizet&'s work by French publishers and opera houses in the 1880s, when Carmen rose to worldwide popularity ten years after the composer&'s early death. The first biography of Bizet in the Master Musicians series in nearly four decades, Bizet will be essential reading for students and scholars of nineteenth-century opera, as well as for Carmen devotees and opera fans.