 As life in Paris returned to normal , in June 1871 Bizet 's appointment as chorus @-@ master at The Opéra was seemingly confirmed by its director , Émile Perrin . Bizet was due to begin his duties in October , but on 1 November the post was assumed by Hector Salomon . In her biography of Bizet , Mina Curtiss surmises that he either resigned or refused to take up the position as a protest against what he thought was the director 's unjustified closing of Ernest Reyer 's opera <unk> after only two performances . Bizet resumed work on Clarissa Harlowe and Grisélidis , but plans for the latter to be staged at the Opéra @-@ Comique fell through , and neither work was finished ; only fragments of their music survive . Bizet 's other completed works in 1871 were the piano duet entitled Jeux d 'enfants , and a one @-@ act opera , Djamileh , which opened at the Opéra @-@ Comique in May 1872 . It was poorly staged and incompetently sung ; at one point the leading singer missed 32 bars of music . It closed after 11 performances , not to be heard again until 1938 . On 10 July Geneviève gave birth to the couple 's only child , a son , Jacques . 
