Georges Bizet: A Biography [Hardcover]

Georges Bizet spent almost his entire life in Paris, his hometown. He never visited Spain. And yet his Carmen is considered by many the epitome of Spanish opera. Bizet did not live to see Carmens enormous worldwide success. He died at the age of thirty-six, just three months after his masterpiece took the stage for the first time. Today his other remarkable works have been entirely eclipsed by Carmen, masking the trajectory that led to the creation of one of the worlds most beloved operas.

In almost all available English-language biographies, serious errors abound, often informed by romantic misconceptions surrounding the life of this remarkable musician. First published in 1991, Christoph Schwandts Georges Bizet: A Biography is now widely recognized as the definitive work on this misunderstood composers life. Drawing on significant recent research gathered for the revised and augmented 2011 German editionnow translated into English by Cynthia KlohrSchwandt rewrites and restores the historical record concerning Bizets achievements and contributions to the world of music.

This work is ideal for students and scholars of opera history and aficionados of what many consider one of the worlds greatest operas ever written.

Christoph Schwandt has held managing positions at several theaters and at the Salzburg Festspiele. From 2002 to 2009 he served as drama director of the Cologne Opera. He has also written biographies of Guiseppe Verdi and Leos Jan?cek.

Translator Cynthia Klohr teaches philosophy at universities in Karlsruhe, Germany. She has translated several books and essays in philosophy, psychology, the theory and history of science, and music. She is translator for Scarecrow Press of Hans Von Bulow's Letters to Johannes Brahms: A Research Edition (2011) and Hermann Levi: From Brahms to Wagner (2012).