Georges Bizet was a French composer of the romantic era. Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire. Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others. Neither of his two operas that reached the stage Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth—were immediately successful.