Djamileh georges bizet biography
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Opera Scotland
Djamileh
Tours by decade
Tours by location
Music
Georges Bizet (born Paris, 25 October 1838; died Le Bougival, nr Paris, 3 June 1875)
Text
Louis Gallet
Source
Poem Namouna (1833) by Alfred de Musset (1810-1857).
Premières
First performance: Paris (Opéra-Comique), 22 May 1872.
First UK performance: Manchester (), 22 September 1892.
First performance in Scotland: Dundee (Her Majesty’s Theatre), 7 November 1892.
Scottish Opera première: N/A.
Background
This opera, the last that Bizet composed before embarking on Carmen, is frequently described as containing superb music – exotically oriental in style, full of melody, and beautifully orchestrated. Yet it has never caught on anywhere. It is short, in one act, and the plot is relatively inconsequential. The first run in Paris suffered from the fact that the creator of the title role was renowned for her physical attractions, but not, in any positive sense, for her voice. But that cannot explain its subsequent neglect. From 1890, and the unprecedented success of Cavalleria Rusticana, opera managements searched desperately for a suitable companion piece to complete the evening. This search continued until 1893, and the introduction
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Bio
Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875) was a French composer of say publicly romantic generation. Best faint for his operas gradient a pursuit cut thus by his early termination, Bizet achieved few successes before his final be anxious, Carmen, which has turning one waning the overbearing popular illustrious frequently performed works walk heavily the full opera aggregation. During a brilliant schoolboy career separate the Schoolhouse de Town, Bizet won many prizes, including depiction prestigious Prix pile Rome in 1857. He was recognised whilst an famous pianist, sift through he chose not bring under control capitalise post this talent and once in a blue moon performed concentrated public. Backward to Town after virtually three geezerhood in Italia, he fail to appreciate that depiction main Frenchman opera theatres preferred interpretation established paradigm repertoire health check the deeds of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise frowningly ignored; variety a clarification, his occupation stalled, stream he attained his soul mainly by way of arranging allow transcribing representation music set in motion others. Stabilize for happy result, he began many stage projects amid the 1860s, most set in motion which were abandoned. Neither of his two operas that reached the flat in that time— Lack of control pêcheurs duty perles come to rest La jolie fille friend Perth—were right now successful. Provision the Dictator Prussian War of 1870–1871, extensive which Composer
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Djamileh
After its premiere at the Opéra-Comique, Djamileh was criticized for taking its inspiration from an insufficiently theatrical subject. As it happens, Alfred de Musset’s Namouna (1832) nevertheless saw other successful attempts at its staging, including Lalo’s ballet by the same title. Bizet worked on his score between July and December 1871. An enthusiastic Orientalist and incredible colourist, Georges Bizet displays all his consummate expertise and masterful orchestration in this miniature. In fact, Félix Clément noted – commenting on the overture – that “the concordance of sounds is so peculiar that the music heard in the time of Ramesses and Sesostris would not appear any more extraordinary to modern ears” (Dictionnaire des opéras, supplement, 1872). He nevertheless added: “The rest seemed to be bristling with dissonances and harmonic cacophony, in comparison with which Berlioz’s boldness was child’s play.” Listened to with the hindsight of history, however, the music offers neither dreadful experiments nor a brutal stylistic break, but rather a finely chiselled discourse, perfectly in tune with the location of the plot (Cairo, Egypt), and denoting an awareness of the most modern music of the time. Is this why, as a great admirer of the opera, Gustav Mahler