Fishergate Music was set up by Hugh Macdonald in 2020 in order to publish new editions of those operas by Georges Bizet which were not available in reliable editions. Les Pêcheurs de perles and Carmen are not included in the series since the former is available from Bärenreiter-Verlabg in Hugh Macdonald’s edition and the latter in several editions from various publishers. The series, called Bizet’s Other Operas, is divided into five volumes:
- Djamileh
- Don Procopio
- La Jolie Fille de Perth
- La Maison du Docteur, Le Dr Miracle
- Ivan IV
Volume 1 was published in 2020, Volume 2 in 2021, and Volume 3 is due for publication in 2022. Performance material is available with each volume in the form of vocal scores and orchestral parts. The full scores are designed to provide maximum readability for conductors and students, with transposing instruments printed at sounding pitch and instrumental groups printed intact wherever possible, so that instrumental lines are not omitted when the instrument is silent.
It is well known that Bizet’s music was subject to extensive corrupt publication in the years after his death when Carmen became popular worldwide. Of the six operas included in the series only Djamileh and the incomplete La Maison du Docteur escaped falsification and adaptation in posthumous editions. Bizet’s Other Operas offers new editions based solely on original sources, giving the operas as the composer intended.
More about Fishergate Music’s publication may be obtained from http://fishergatemusic.co.uk.