No, Georges Bizet was not only the composer of Carmen, the French opera most frequently performed around the world. In a career spanning less than twenty years, he produced works in every genre: orchestral music, piano pieces, cantatas, operas, songs and more besides. He showed an early mastery of orchestration, and was soon able to give free rein to his taste for orientalism and folklore. This portrait offers a chance to discover works that were never performed during his lifetime, indeed some which had to wait until 2024 for their premiere. Of particular note is the 'ode-symphony' Vasco de Gama, which illustrates the Romantic taste for vast historical epics, and Le Retour de Virginie, a cantata for the Prix de Rome presented by the composer to his teacher in 1855. Piano music and melodies remind us that Bizet was also a sought-after salon composer, whose talent posterity has consecrated in songs like La Coccinelle and Les Adieux de l'hotesse arabe.

Artists

Sahy Ratia (soloist), Philippe-Nicolas Martin (soloist), Isabelle Druet (soloist), Maxime Le Gall (soloist), Mélissa Petit, Thomas Dolié (soloist), Cyrille Dubois (soloist), Célia Oneto Bensaid, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, Patrick Bolleire (soloist), Nathanäel Gouin, Florian Caroubi, Adèle Charvet (soloist), Anthony Romaniuk, Karina Gauvin (soloist), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone), Julien Dran (soloist)

Les Siècles, Chœur de l’Opéra de Lille, Flemish Radio Choir, Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est, Orchestre National de Lyon, Le Concert de La Loge, François-Xavier Roth, David Reiland, Ben Glassberg, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Julien Chauvin