
Camille
Donald Macleod explores the women who shaped Hector Berlioz’s life and work. Today, the rollercoaster ride of his engagement to a young pianist, Camille.
Donald Macleod explores the twists and turns of Berlioz’s first engagement.
Hector Berlioz was one the most innovative and rebellious musicians of 19th-century France. He was a man of unwaveringly high expectations, in his wider life as well as his music. As the quintessential Romantic, one friend said that love was the “alpha and omega of his existence”. This week Donald Macleod looks at Berlioz through the passions and relationships that shaped who he was and what he created, exploring the romantic obsessions of an especially obsessive man. We’ll also hear a movement of his Symphonie Fantastique each day – Berlioz’s best known work, and the musical embodiment of his most powerful infatuation.
Today, Berlioz wins the musical jackpot of the Prix de Rome but almost throws it in for his latest love. We’ll follow the rollercoaster ride of his engagement to the young pianist, Camille Moke, from elopement to attempted murder. Plus, Berlioz channels his hero, Lord Byron, and lives out his Romantic ideals on a heartbreak holiday in the Abruzzi mountains.
Fleuve du Tage
Stephanie d’Oustrac, soprano
Thibaut Roussel, guitar
Tempest Fantasy
Toronto Symphony Chorus
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Davis, conductor
Symphonie Fantastique, arr. Liszt for piano (2nd movement)
Roger Muraro, piano
Carnaval Romain
Anima Eterna
Jos van Immerseel, conductor
Harold in Italy (1st movement - “Harold aux montagnes”)
Tabea Zimmerman, viola
Les Siecles
Francois-Xavier Roth, conductor
Produced in Cardiff by Amelia Parker
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Music Played
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Hector Berlioz
Fleuve du Tage
Performer: Thibaut Roussel. Singer: Stéphanie d'Oustrac.- HARMONIA MUNDI : HMM 902504.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
- 12.
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Hector Berlioz
Tempest Fantasy
Choir: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Conductor: Andrew Davis.- CHANDOS : CHSA 5239.
- CHANDOS.
- 1.
-
Franz Liszt
Symphonie Fantastique, arr Liszt for piano (2nd movement)
Performer: Roger Muraro.- DECCA : 476-4176.
- DECCA.
- 2.
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Hector Berlioz
Le Carnaval Romain
Performer: Jos van Immerseel. Orchestra: Anima Eterna.- ZIG ZAG : ZZT-100101.
- ZIG ZAG.
- 6.
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Hector Berlioz
Harold in Italy (1st movement - "Harold aux montagnes")
Performer: Tabea Zimmermann. Orchestra: Les Siècles. Conductor: François‐Xavier Roth.- HARMONIA MUNDI : 902-634P.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
- 1.
Broadcast
- Tue 6 Jul 2021 12:00ѿý Radio 3
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