In Paris, his hometown, he spent almost his entire life. He has never been to Spain. Yet, Bizet's Carmen is considered the quintessential Spanish opera. Its overwhelming success around the world was something its composer did not live to see. Exactly three months after its premiere in March 1875, he died at the young age of 36. Even today, his remarkable body of work remains overshadowed by this one masterpiece. The biography by Christoph Schwandt, first published in 1991, is still the only one available in German. This standard work, which takes into account important research findings and insights from the second half of the 20th century, is now being updated and expanded.