[unnamed]

Italian opera

projected

Project: in June 1868 Bagier, director of the Théâtre des Italiens, commissioned an opera from Bizet. Not liking the libretto he was offered, Bizet asked for a fee of 6000 francs, knowing it would be refused.

Letters
12-1868 Bizet to Lacombe:
'Ce que vous avez lu des Italiens est vrai : M. Bagier m'a commandé un ouvrage. – Mais cela a raté, – le poème ne m'allait pas. – J'ai lâché.'
Imbert, p. 181
no date Bizet to Arthur Leroy:
Bizet encloses first the translation of the duet in Act I and asks Leroy to pass it to Alary [directeur du chant au Théâtre Italien]. Secondly he encloses the change for the main theme of the trio, which he asks Leroy to give to Nicolini [tenor at the Théâtre Italien].
Lisa Cox Catalogue 54, January 2007
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