Reference Recordings is proud to present these works of Georges Bizet, beautifully performed by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, conducted by Martin West. The recording was made at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California by Grammy-winning engineer Keith O. Johnson. The "Symphony in C" is a delightful gem, composed in 1855. It was produced as a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine, and premiered at the San Francisco Ballet in 1961. "Jeux d'Enfants" is filled with youthful wonder, and fanciful, charming, memorable tunes. We include Bizet's own orchestrations of five of the pieces. The remaining seven pieces' orchestrations are by Hershey Kay and Roy Douglas. This recording is the first to feature all 12 pieces, with the Kay and Douglas orchestrations. "Variations chromatiques" is a dramatic work recorded only once before, by the Louisville Orchestra in 1973. This is the first modern recording and the first time this work is available on compact disc. RR-131 Review excerpts: "...incredibly defined bass, beautiful separation of instruments...and a general feeling of audiophile good will as Johnson and the musicians create magic...it's nice to hear such high quality playing...displayed for posterity in such incredible sound. Another winning release from the Reference team." -- Anthony Kershaw, Audiophilia.com "These three works of Bizet are all well-performed, and two of them are completely unique...This is very first recording of Bizet's Jeux D'Enfants which brings us all dozen of the pieces in the original piano-four-hands collection, transcribed for playing by a full orchestra...The Variations chromatiques here receives its CD premiere." -- John Sunier, Audiophile Audition