An informative and entertaining audio-visual concert at the Hagia Eirene, Istanbul (2001) with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons and hosted by Wulf Konold who analyzes the composer Hector Berlioz's most famous works. Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique 6:42 I. Rêveries – Passions 13:08 II. Un bal 15:36 III. Scène aux champs 22:13 IV. Marche au supplice 24:41 V. Songe dùne nuit du Sabbat Surreal, mercurial and demonic, Hector Berlioz's An Episode in the Life of an Artist has courted controversy since its premiere in 1830. The composer and journalist Robert Schumann (1810-1856) compared analyzing the workto 'dissecting the head of a good-looking murderer',18 and Le Figarotermed it 'bizarre' and 'monstrous'. Vet it has become wildly popular: it seems to both repel and attract, charm and bewilder. Its lurid, pseudo-autobiographical programme and its vaguely heretical parodyofthe Dies lraeinthefinal movementlend itthe aura ofa nightmare; yet it also contains passages of melting lyricism and beauty. Hector Berlioz was born in the town of La Göte-Saint-Andr, in lsre, on 11 December 1803. His father was a doctor, and gave his son his first music lessons on the flageolet. The budding composer never learnt to play the piano, but taught himself the fundamentals of harmony from Jean-Philippe Rameau's (1683-1764) Traitd de I'harmonie. Atthe age of seventeen he was sentto medical school in Paris, intending to follow in his father's footsteps; butthe lure of music proved too strong and in 1824 he abandoned his studios and devoted himself to composition. The years following this decision were difficult; Berlioz eked out a living writing articles and teaching, while he drank in as much ofthe Parisian musical scene as he could. In 1826 he forrnally enrolled at the Conservatoire, where ha took composition lessons, and in the same year he tried (and failed( to win the prestigious Prix de Rome. Undeterred, he continued to enterthe competition, and in 1830 his persistence was rewarded when he gained first prize for his cantata La Mort de Sardanapale. lt was early in this same year that he composed the work that would make hirn infamous. On 11 September 1827 Berlioz had first seen the actress Harriet Smithson, playing the Part of Ophelia in Hamlet. He instantly developed an infatuation for her, which soon turned into an obsession. The Symphonie fantastiquewas a product of this es yet unrequited Passion (though they eventually met and were married in 1833). The Symphonie was composed at lightning speed, and its premiere took place on 5 December 1830 underthe baton of Frangois Antoine Habeneck. lt brought Berliozto the attention of the press and he seemed on the verge of success; butthe Prix de Rome broughtwith it a sojourn in Italy, and in 1831 he left Paris for Rorne. Upon his return in 1832 he found that the doors of the musical establishrnent were Iargely closed to hirn. His music was too strange, too uncornpromising, and again Berlioz was forced to earn rnoney as a critic. In the 1840s, however, he began to find success abroad, where his music was better received, und he toured widely across Europa, including England, Gerrnany, Austria and Russia. His reputation grew gradually, but Paris still resisted hirn, and in 1863 the failure of his opera Los Troyens threw hirn into a depression. I\ year later he wrote in despair, '1 say hourly tu Death: "When you will". Why does he delay?' Bythis point Berlioz was seriously ill, und he eventually died on 8 March 1869. Watch more episodes of the series "Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music": goo.gl/KBV6cR Subscribe to EuroArts: goo.gl/jrui3M

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