Georges Bizet (1838-1875) was a French Romantic composer, a child prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatoire at age nine and excelled, winning the prestigious Prix de Rome. He worked as a rehearsal pianist and arranger, developing skills that shaped his work, and composed several operas and incidental music, most famously for L'Arlésienne. Though his masterpiece, the opera Carmen, was initially panned at its 1875 premiere, it became one of the world's most popular operas after Bizet's early death from a heart attack at age 36, tragically unaware of its future success.