One can scarcely speak of Bizet’s ‘youthful’ works, since an abrupt end was put to his genius when he was only 36; but of the four works here, two were written at the age of 17 and one at 28. And what delight these still give us!
The early Overture in A minor/major is a rarity of which no other recording now exists; it is an oddly proportioned work in four sections, the second a sudden brief theatrical storm, the substantial third an expressive Italian Andante (which Dutoit shapes most lovingly): it ends in an energetic but more conventional finale. The work was never heard in Bizet’s lifetime. The same fate befell his Symphony, written in the same year: in fact, it was not performed until 80 years later. This infectiously enjoyable work was, astonishingly, written in a month; but it reveals Bizet as the possessor of great melodic gifts, charm, a remarkable flair for instrumental colour, and a Rossinian vitality – ‘breezy Bizet’, indeed. It is hard to resist (indeed, why should one try?) the delicately exotic Adagio, the fresh, vigorous scherzo, or the compelling vivacity of the finale (which needs the Montreal violins triumphantly on their toes), with its Schubertian key-shifts. One of its themes was to reappear in the sparkling opera buffa Don Procopio (when are we to get a recording of that?) composed five years later: that in turn furnished the Serenade borrowed for La jolie fille de Perth, the orchestral suite from which was put together by Bizet’s publishers after the composer’s death. The title of Scenes bohemiennes – curious for a work set in Scotland! – springs from the fourth movement, which anticipates the gipsy dance in Carmen.
Splendidly vivid playing throughout, and recording too (even too bright in places): so good as to lend new life and conviction to the Patrie overture, often dismissed as mere bombast. It’s certainly noisy, less inspired and a world away from Bizet’s usual subtlety, but, in this performance at least, not to be ignored.'