Synopsis
The old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” pretty much sums up the career of the French composer Georges Bizet.
Bizet died at 36 in 1875, the same year his opera Carmen premiered. Now, Carmen soon became acknowledged as one of the great masterworks of French opera, but poor Monsieur Bizet wasn’t around to experience any of that.
Moreover, Carmen was preceded by Bizet’s no less than 30 attempts writing a hit opera. Most never made it to the stage, and the few that did, achieved only modest success.
Set in exotic Ceylon, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, or The Pearl Fishers, the most famous of the “pre-Carmen” Bizet operas premiered on today’s date in 1863.
It ran for 18 performances, and, although applauded by its first audiences, was roundly panned by the press. Only one music critic saw any merit in Bizet’s opera, and that critic just happened to be the great French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz.
Even so, Pearl Fishers wasn’t revived until long after Bizet’s death, and some 30 years after its premiere. Today, after Carmen of course, it’s his second most popular opera.
Music Played in Today's Program
Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Prelude from The Pearl Fishers; Mexico City Philharmonic; Enrique Batiz, conductor; ASV 6133
Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Au Fond du Temple Saint, from The Pearl Fishers; Placido Domingo, tenor; Sherrill Milnes, baritone; London Symphony; Anton Guadagno, conductor; BMG 62699
On This Day
Births
1840 - Norwegian composer Johann Svendsen, in Christiania
1852 - Irish-born British composer Sir Charles Villers Stanford, in Dublin
Deaths
1989 - American composer and music critic Virgil Thomson, 92, in New York City
Premieres
1791 - Mozart: opera, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), in Vienna at the Freihaustheater auf der Wieden, conducted by the composer
1863 - Bizet: opera Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers), in Paris at the Théâtre Lyrique
1935 - Gershwin: opera Porgy and Bess, during trial run at Boston's Colonial Theater. According to Opera America magazine, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade.
1944 - R. Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto, with soloist Leon Goosens and the Liverpool Philharmonic conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
1960 - Barber: Toccata Festiva for organ and orchestra, at Philadelphia's Academy of Music, by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, with Paul Callaway the soloist
1979 - Penderecki: Te Deum in Assisi, Italy
1989 - Daniel Asia: Piano Quartet, at Wigmore Hall in London, by the Domus ensemble
1999 - Michael Tilson Thomas: Whitman Songs for Orchestra, by the San Francisco Symphony, composer conducting.
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.