Page "Georges Bizet" Paragraph 28

While La jolie fille was in rehearsal, Bizet worked with three other composers, each of whom contributed a single act to a four-act operetta Marlborough s ' en va-t-en guerre.

When the work was performed at the Théâtre de l ' Athénée on 13 December 1867 it was a great success, and the Revue et Gazette Musicale's critic lavished particular praise on Bizet's act: " Nothing could be more stylish, smarter and, at the same time, more distinguished ".

Bizet also found time to finish his long-gestating Roma symphony, and wrote numerous keyboard works and songs.

Nevertheless, this period of Bizet's life was marked by significant disappointments.

At least two projected operas were abandoned with little or no work done.

Several competition entries, including a cantata and a hymn composed for the Paris Exhibition of 1867 were unsuccessful.

La Coupe du Roi de Thulé, his entry for an opera competition, was not placed in the first five ; from the fragments of this score that survive, analysts have discerned pre-echoes of Carmen.

On 28 February 1869 the Roma symphony was performed at the Cirque Napoléon, under Jules Pasdeloup.

Afterwards Bizet informed Galabert that on the basis of proportionate applause, hisses and catcalls, the work was a success.