Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Migrated podcast image for: Composer Of The Week

Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Composer of the Week: Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Episode 1: The Boy from Montmartre

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Episode 1

Episode 1: The Boy from Montmartre

The Boy from Montmartre

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Georges Bizet (1838-1875), The Boy from Montmartre

Exploring Bizet's humble origins as the son of a hairdresser and singing teacher.

Donald Macleod recounts Bizet's humble origins as the son of a hairdresser and self-appointed singing teacher. Including Le Docteur Miracle (Sc 7); Clovis et Clotilde (Sc 3).

Despite writing what is possibly the best known opera in the world, Alexandre César Leopold Bizet would seldom enjoy success during his lifetime. (He never even got to use all his given names, but instead was known as 'Georges'!)

A man of multiple love affairs who became devoted to his neurotic wife; a superb pianist who studiously avoided the concert stage; a man for ever associated with Spain, even though he'd never been there - George Bizet is a mass of contradictions. As well as composing what is arguably the world's best known and most popular opera, Bizet also composed some spectacular flops. Always seeking popular as well as critical success, that was the very thing that eluded him during his lifetime. And yet, despite the caustic discouragement of Parisian reviewers, Bizet wrote songs and operas of astonishing beauty, even if the plots and libretti didn't always match the composer's dramatic sense. 

Donald Macleod recounts Bizet's humble origins as the son of a hairdresser and self-appointed singing teacher. Entering the Paris Conservatoire, he made rapid progress under Charles Gounod, writing a delightful symphony, and competing for the prestigious Prix de Rome, with the chance to travel to the Eternal City and enjoy the sights and sounds of Italy. 

Horowitz 
Variations on a Theme from Bizet's opera 'Carmen'
Vladimir Horowitz, piano

Bizet
Symphony in C 
Orchestre de Paris
Paavo Järvi, conductor

Le Docteur Miracle (Scene 7, Quartet)
Marie-Bénédicte soprano (Souquet), Laurette Isabelle Druet mezzo (Veronique), Jérôme Billy baritone (Pasquin) and Pierre-Yves Pruvot baritone (Le Padestat)
Orchestre Lyrique de Region Avignon Provence
Samuel Jean, conductor

Clovis et Clotilde
Scene 3 - Prière
Katarina Jovanovic soprano (Clotilde)
Choeur Regional Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Georges Bizet

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Georges Bizet, a composer who seldom enjoyed success in his lifetime but was known for writing what is possibly the best-known opera in the world

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Composer of the Week

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Episode 1: The Boy from Montmartre

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3