Editing Georges Bizet (section)

====Paris, 1860–1863====
[[File:Théâtre Historique on the Boulevard du Temple - L'illustration 12 April 1862 - Levin p380.jpg|thumb|The Théâtre Historique in Paris, one of the homes of the Théâtre Lyrique company, pictured in 1862]]
Back in Paris with two years of his grant remaining, Bizet was temporarily secure financially and could ignore for the moment the difficulties that other young composers faced in the city.<ref name= D41>Dean (1965), pp. 41–42</ref> The two state-subsidised opera houses, [[Paris Opera|the Opéra]] and the [[Opéra-Comique]],{{refn|The name "Opéra-Comique" does not imply literal "comic opera" or [[opera buffa]]. The most specific characteristic of Opéra-Comique productions was the replacement of sung [[recitative]] with spoken dialogue—the German ''[[singspiel]]'' model.<ref name= Dean36>Dean (1965), pp. 36–39</ref><ref>Schonberg (Vol. I), p. 210</ref> |group= n}} each presented traditional repertoires that tended to stifle and frustrate new homegrown talent; only eight of the 54 Prix de Rome laureates between 1830 and 1860 had had works staged at the Opéra.<ref name= Steen586>Steen, p. 586</ref> Although French composers were better represented at the Opéra-Comique, the style and character of productions had remained largely unchanged since the 1830s.<ref name= Steen586/> A number of smaller theatres catered for [[operetta]], a field in which Offenbach was then paramount,<ref name= Dean36/> while the [[Comédie-Italienne|Théâtre Italien]] specialised in second-rate Italian opera. The best prospect for aspirant opera composers was the [[Théâtre Lyrique]] company which, despite repeated financial crises, operated intermittently in various premises under its resourceful manager [[Léon Carvalho]].<ref name= Steen586/> This company had staged the first performances of Gounod's ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'' and his ''[[Roméo et Juliette]]'', and of a shortened version of [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]]'s ''[[Les Troyens]]''.<ref name= Dean36/><ref>Neef (ed.), pp. 48, 184, 190</ref>

On 13 March 1861, Bizet attended the Paris premiere of [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s opera ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'', a performance greeted by audience riots that were stage-managed by the influential [[Jockey-Club de Paris]].<ref>Osborne, p. 89</ref> Despite this distraction, Bizet revised his opinions of Wagner's music, which he had previously dismissed as merely eccentric. He now declared Wagner "above and beyond all living composers".<ref name= C106/> Thereafter, accusations of "Wagnerism" were often laid against Bizet, throughout his compositional career.<ref>Curtiss, p. 112</ref>

As a pianist, Bizet showed considerable skill from his earliest years. A contemporary asserted that he could have assured a future on the concert platform, but chose to conceal his talent "as though it were a vice".<ref>Curtiss, p. 109</ref> In May 1861 Bizet gave a rare demonstration of his virtuoso skills when, at a dinner party at which [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]] was present, he astonished everyone by playing on sight, flawlessly, one of the maestro's most difficult pieces. Liszt commented: "I thought there were only two men able to surmount the difficulties&nbsp;... there are three, and&nbsp;... the youngest is perhaps the boldest and most brilliant."<ref>Dean (1965), p. 45</ref>
[[File:Bizet - Les pêcheurs de perles - Scene from act II at the Metropolitan - The Victrola book of the opera.jpg|thumb|left| A scene from Act II of ''Les pêcheurs de perles'']]

Bizet's third envoi was delayed for nearly a year by the prolonged illness and death, in September 1861, of his mother.<ref name= D41/> He eventually submitted a trio of orchestral works: an overture entitled ''La Chasse d'Ossian'', a scherzo and a funeral march. The overture has been lost; the scherzo was later absorbed into the ''Roma'' symphony, and the funeral march music was adapted and used in a later opera.<ref name= OMO/><ref name= D754>Dean (1980), pp. 754–755</ref> Bizet's fourth and final envoi, which occupied him for much of 1862, was a one-act opera, ''La guzla de l'émir''. As a state-subsidised theatre, the Opéra-Comique was obliged from time to time to stage the works of Prix de Rome laureates, and ''La guzla'' duly went into rehearsal in 1863. However, in April Bizet received an offer, which originated from [[Count Alexandre Joseph Colonna-Walewski|Count Walewski]], to compose the music for a three-act opera. This was ''[[Les pêcheurs de perles]]'', based on a libretto by [[Michel Carré]] and [[Eugène Cormon]]. Because a condition of this offer was that the opera should be the composer's first publicly staged work, Bizet hurriedly withdrew ''La guzla'' from production and incorporated parts of its music into the new opera.<ref name= D754/> The first performance of ''Les pêcheurs de perles'', by the Théâtre Lyrique company, was on 30 September 1863. Critical opinion was generally hostile, though Berlioz praised the work, writing that it "does M. Bizet the greatest honour".<ref>Curtiss, pp. 140–141</ref> Public reaction was lukewarm, and the opera's run ended after 18 performances. It was not performed again until 1886.<ref name= D755>Dean (1980), pp. 755–756</ref>

In 1862, Bizet had fathered a child with the family's housekeeper, Marie Reiter. The boy was brought up to believe that he was Adolphe Bizet's child; only on her deathbed in 1913 did Reiter reveal her son's true paternity.<ref>Curtiss, p. 122</ref>