Georges Bizet

Bizet died at thirty-six believing Carmen had failed. It is now the most-performed opera in the world, and it dominates this catalogue in every possible arrangement.

Singers approach him through the Carmen arias — the Habanera and the Toreador Song above all — which appear in every aria anthology by voice type. Instrumentalists get the two suites drawn from the opera and the L'Arlésienne music, both arranged for everything from full orchestra to solo piano.

The one thing to check before buying a Carmen vocal score is whether it uses spoken dialogue or the sung recitatives written by Guiraud after Bizet's death. Both are standard, they are not interchangeable in rehearsal, and editions do not always say on the cover.