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The Literary Muse

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Hector Berlioz. Today, he delves into the world of Berlioz鈥檚 literary muses 鈥 first and foremost, Virgil, Goethe and Shakespeare

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Hector Berlioz. Today, he delves into the world of Berlioz鈥檚 literary muses 鈥 first and foremost, Virgil, Goethe and Shakespeare.

Berlioz was home-schooled by his father, Louis, in the picturesque village of La C么te Saint-Andr茅 in the southeast of France, not far from Grenoble. Louis Berlioz was a doctor 鈥 a man, as his son would later write, with 鈥渁 naturally liberal mind: that is, without any kind of social, political or religious prejudice鈥. He also had a deep love of literature, which he duly transmitted to young Hector. Most of all, he instilled in his son a passion for the Latin poet Virgil, whose epic masterpiece The Aeneid relates the legend of the wandering Trojan hero who overcame adversity to become the founding father of Ancient Rome. Forty years on, Berlioz conceived his opera Les Troyens, The Trojans, based on the events Virgil so compellingly describes 鈥 not least the death of Dido, a passage which reduced the young Berlioz to 鈥渘ervous shuddering鈥 when he had to translate it for his father. Goethe and Shakespeare were later but no less crucial discoveries. The former鈥檚 Faust, which Berlioz read in the French translation of G茅rard de Nerval, inspired his early 8 Scenes from Faust, which later blossomed into one of his mature masterpieces, The Damnation of Faust. Shakespeare was a more traumatic encounter; Berlioz was so thunderstruck by the performance of Hamlet he saw in the Od茅on Theatre in Paris on the 11th of September 1827 that at first he vowed never again to expose himself to 鈥渢he flame of Shakespeare鈥檚 genius鈥. But it was a promise he was unable to keep, and the production of Romeo and Juliet he witnessed a few days later was to impact his life in two highly significant ways: it sowed the seed of one of his greatest works, the 鈥榙ramatic symphony鈥 Rom茅o et Juliette; and it introduced him to the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, the Juliet of the Od茅on production. Berlioz and Smithson would eventually marry 鈥 like Romeo and Juliet, it didn鈥檛 end well.

La Damnation de Faust, Op 24 (Part 2, 鈥楿n puce gentille鈥)
Jos茅 van Dam, baritone (Mephistopheles)
Orchestre et Choeur de Op茅ra de Lyon
Kent Nagano, conductor

Waverley, grande ouverture, Op 1
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrew Davis, conductor

Les Troyens, Op 29 (Act 1, finale)
Petra Lang, mezzo soprano (Cassandra)
London Symphony Orchestra
Colin Davis, conductor

Marche fun猫bre pour la derni猫re sc猫ne d'Hamlet (Tristia, Op 18)
Orchestre R茅volutionnaire et Romantique
The Monteverdi Choir
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

La Captive, Op 12
V茅ronique Gens, mezzo-soprano
Orchestre de l'Op茅ra National de Lyon
Louis Langr茅e, conductor

Harold en Italie, Op 16 (IV. Orgie des brigands)
William Primrose, viola
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Charles Munch, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow for 大象传媒 Wales

59 minutes

Music Played

  • Hector Berlioz

    La Damnation de Faust: Part 2 'Une puce gentille'

    Singer: Jos茅 van Dam. Orchestra: Lyon Opera Orchestra. Choir: Lyon Opera Chorus. Conductor: Kent Nagano.
    • ERATO : 0630-10692-2.
    • ERATO.
    • 10.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Waverley - Grande Ouverture, Op 1

    Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis. Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Chandos CHSA 5118.
    • Chandos.
    • 5.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Les Troyens: Act I, finale

    Singer: Petra Lang. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis.
    • LSO LIVE : LSO-0010.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • 13.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Marche fun猫bre pour la derni猫re sc猫ne d'Hamlet (Tristia, Op 18)

    Orchestra: Orchestre R茅volutionnaire et Romantique. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • PHILIPS 4466762.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 7.
  • Hector Berlioz

    La Captive, Op 12

    Singer: V茅ronique Gens. Orchestra: Lyon Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Louis Langr茅e.
    • ERATO 5454222.
    • ERATO.
    • 8.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Harold en Italie, Op 16: IV. Orgie des brigands

    Performer: William Primrose. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Munch.
    • SONY: 88697720602.
    • SONY.
    • 4.

Broadcast

  • Tue 12 Mar 2019 12:00

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