This article accompanies the fable
Life as Opera



Georges Bizet

Bizet married Geneviève Halévy in 1869 but the marriage was cut short when he died in 1875 from a heart attack at age 36, only three months after Carmen's opening. Geneviève is shown in the lower image.



This painting of Geneviève is by Jules-Élie Delaunay from 1876 or 1878, where she is shown (I assume) in mourning clothes. It is one of my favorite paintings, quietly tucked away in the Musée d'Orsay.