Bizet and transcription

Before creating an opera in his own name, Bizet earned a living by working for others. For the publishing house Choudens, he provided piano-vocal reductions of recent operatic works, made keyboard transcriptions of many orchestral compositions, as well as orchestrating certain of Gounod’s operas. As well as strengthening his ties with the great artists of his time, those activities also nourished his practice as a composer. Thus, in 1864, Nadir’s aria (‘Je crois entendre encore’) from Les Pêcheurs de perles (1863) was published as a ‘romance sans paroles’ for piano entitled Venise. In this concert, Nathanaël Gouin plays pieces by Bizet, together with the arrangements made by him for Gounod and Saint-Saëns; the pianist also presents his own Paraphrase sur un chœur de Carmen.