Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet (1838-75) was born Alexandre Cesar Leopold Bizet in Bougival near Paris, and trained at the Paris Conservatoire under the French composer Jacques Halévy. Bizet's operas include Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers, 1863), La Jolie Fille de Perth (Fair Maid of Perth, 1867), and Djamileh (1872). The opera Carmen (1875) is generally considered his most important work. Although not an immediate success, it soon became one of the most popular works in operatic history. His other compositions include Symphony In C (1855); The Symphonic Suite Roma (1866-68); Incidental Music to the play L'Arlesienne (The Woman from Arles, 1872), by the French writer Alphonse Daudet; the dramatic overture Patrie (Native Land, 1873); and works for piano and voice.

Oscar Hammerstein II used Bizet's Carmen as the basis for Carmen Jones, which he wrote in 1943.