Bizet: Roma, symphony for orchestra in C major

The 2010-11 season sees Paavo Järvi take up his position as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris. Marking the launch of this collaboration, Virgin Classics is releasing a programme of orchestral works by Bizet, the first recording from this leading French orchestra and its Estonian-born conductor.

With the 2010-11 season, Paavo Järvi assumes his new role as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris, taking over from Christoph Eschenbach, who spent 10 years with the orchestra, and following in the footsteps of figures such as Charles Munch, Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim.

To date, Järvi’s Virgin Classics recordings have focused on music by Nordic and Russian composers, and – in his recent work with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra – Mahler and Brahms. Now, with the Orchestre de Paris, he presents a programme by Bizet, a quintessentially French composer, who, as Järvi points out, receives insufficient recognition for his works beyond Carmen. The release comprises the vernal Symphony in C, written when Bizet was still a teenager, the delightful suite Jeux d’Enfants (Children’s Games) and the composer’s second symphony, Roma, a work he revised on a number of occasions, and which is rarely heard.

Although many listeners will have been introduced to Georges Bizet (1838–1875) through his wellloved operas – notably The Pearl Fishers and Carmen – this fantastic volume celebrates his orchestral music, sometimes overlooked but entirely worthy of attention. The collection surveys his complete body of orchestral works, taking in symphonies, suites, preludes and overtures. Fans of the dramatic compositions will not be disappointed: a large portion of the three-disc set is devoted to music inspired by or written for the stage.

Two suites from Carmen are a highlight, with movements that bring to life the opera’s most magical moments, from Spanish dances to the famous Toréador song and Habañera. An orchestral suite based on the mature opera La Jolie Fille de Perth is also included, as are the two L’Arlésienne Suites of evocative, colourful incidental music to a play by Alphonse Daudet.

Bizet’s two main contributions to large-scale symphonic music are also featured: although the composer was never entirely satisfied with Roma symphony, the early Symphony in C is undoubtedly one of his masterpieces, charming and ebullient in style. Some less well-known but equally impressive works round off this collection, which is rich in opportunities for listeners to discover the different sides of Bizet’s colourful music. Enrique Bátiz, leading two internationally renowned orchestras, delivers thrilling performances, making this an indispensable and comprehensive volume.