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65e Festival de Musique de Strasbourg 2003 – Berlioz et le siècle romantique “Letter to my mother” Competition in the Department of Isère, France Berlioz in Taiwan Hommage aan Berlioz 1803-2003 – Utrecht, Netherlands Berlioz Day on the BBC Berlioz – BBC’s Composer of the Week Berlioz at the National Library of Scotland – Edinburgh Berlioz and Wagner at the 23rd Musical Autumn of Nîmes, France Commemorative plaque at the Paris Conservatoire Berlioz on Swedish television Berlioz in South Africa Berlioz bicentenary celebrations/concerts in Copenhagen Berlioz at the Île de France Festival “Berlioz, le Côtois” on Radio France Bleu Isère Bicentenary broadcasts on Radio France – France Musiques 14th July celebrations in Grenoble – Homage to Hector Berlioz Berlioz at Ravinia Festival – One Score, One Chicago Prague Autumn International Music Festival – 2003 International conference on Berlioz at Grenoble – October 2003 The Cambridge Music Festival Berlioz Bicentennial Conference: Hector Berlioz in the Age of French Romanticism – Denton Berlioz at the Théâtre du Châtelet Berlioz at the BBC Proms 2003 Festival Musique at the Sorbonne – Berlioz and his contemporaries Berlioz in Singapore Festival Berlioz in Japan

65e Festival de Musique de Strasbourg 2003 – Berlioz et le siècle romantique

    The 65th Festival de Musique at Strasbourg ran from 6 to 28 June 2003, and had as its theme “Berlioz and the Romantic Century” in celebration of Berlioz’s 200th anniversary. The festival featured the following works of Berlioz:

“Letter to my mother” Competition in Department of Isère, France

    To close Berlioz’s bicentenary year and celebrate “the region’s son” the Conseil général of the Department of Isère and the Academic Inspectorate of the region launched a competition, in the form of French writing assignment, among the college students in the Department. Having studied the life and œuvre of Berlioz, 3^rd year students were invited to compose a letter to their mother informing her about their decision to abandon the study of medicine in favour of studying music.

    The letters which won the top four prizes were placed on the website of the Department of Isère, on a page entitled Concours “Lettre à ma mère” [“Letter to my mother” Competition]. The page is no longer available.

Berlioz in Taiwan

    Taiwan celebrated the 200th anniversary of Berlioz’s birth with a semi-staged performance of La Damnation de Faust, at the National Concert Hall, Taipei, on 31 December 2003 and 2 January 2004, but there were other concerts featuring his music in 2003.

    The Taipei Symphony Orchestra and Taipei Philharmonic Chorus were conducted by Chien Wen-pin, the soloists were Justin Lavender (Faust), John Cheek (Méphistophélès), Chen Pei-chi (Marguerite), and Tsai Wen-hao (Brander).

Hommage aan Berlioz 1803-2003 (Homage to Berlioz 1803-2003) – Utrecht, Netherlands

    This event took place between 17-21 December 2003 and consisted of concerts and other activities as listed below. The venue was Vredenburg concert hall.

Concerts:

17 December 20.15hr (kleine zaal)

Liszt – Epithalam zu Eduard Reményis Vermählungsfeier, for violin and piano
Fauré – Violin Sonata op. 13
Berlioz (arr. Macdonald) – Harold en Italie, for viola and piano
Beethoven – Violin Sonata

Isabelle van Keulen, violin, viola
Ronald Brautigam, piano

18 December 20.15hr (kleine zaal)

“De Mémoires van Hector Berlioz” [The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz]

Berlioz – Rêverie et caprice, for violin and piano
Liszt – Ô, quand je dors; Comment disaient-ils?, for soprano and piano
Paganini – Il palpiti, for violin and piano
Meyerbeer – La barque légere; La fille de l’air, for soprano and piano
Chopin – Mazurkas, for piano
Liszt – Grand duo concertant, for violin and piano
Berlioz – La belle voyageuse; La mort d’Ophélie, for soprano and piano

Porgy Franssen, narrator
Valérie Guillorit, soprano
Graf Mourja, violin
Arthur Schoonderwoerd, piano

19 December 20.15hr (grote zaal)

Berlioz – Overture Le Carnaval romain
Berlioz – Herminie, scène lyrique
Berlioz – Suite from Les Troyens

Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland
conductor: Edo de Waart
Monica Groop, mezzo-soprano

20 December 20.15hr (grote zaal)

Berlioz – L’Enfance du Christ

Nederlands Radio Symfonie Orkest
Nederlands Concertkoor
conductor: Marc Soustrot
choirmaster: Rob Vermeulen
Nora Gubisch, mezzo-soprano (Marie)
Gilles Cachemaille, baritone (Joseph, Polydorus)
John Bröcheler, bass-baritone (Hérode)
Jean-Luc Viala, tenor (Récitant, Centurion)
Frédéric Caton, baritone (Père de famille)

21 December 11.00hr (grote zaal)

Gluck/Berlioz – Orphée et Eurydice (excerpts)

Radio Kamerorkest
conductor: Frans Brüggen
Nathalie Stutzmann, alto (Orphée)
Virginie Pochon, soprano (Eurydice)
Lenneke Ruiten, soprano (Amor)

21 December 14.15hr (kleine zaal)

Berlioz – songs:
Petit oiseau, Le matin, La captive
Le coucher du soleil, Le chasseur danois, Hélène
La belle voyageuse, Zaïde, Le trébuchet, Je crois en vous
Les champs, La mort d’Ophélie, Les Nuits d’été

Liszt – Consolations, for piano
Françoise Masset, soprano
Howard Crook, tenor
Jérôme Corréas, baritone
Arthur Schoonderwoerd, fortepiano

21 December 15.00hr (grote zaal)

Berlioz – L’Enfance du Christ

Nederlands Radio Symfonie Orkest
Nederlands Concertkoor
conductor: Marc Soustrot
choirmaster: Rob Vermeulen
Nora Gubisch, mezzo-soprano (Marie)
Gilles Cachemaille, baritone (Joseph, Polydorus)
John Bröcheler, bass-baritone (Hérode)
Jean-Luc Viala, tenor (Récitant, Centurion)
Frédéric Caton, baritone (Père de famille)

Other activities:

– Programme book with full programme information, background articles and sung texts

– Pre-concert introductory talks

– Lecture entitled “Hector Berlioz, homme de théâtre” by Cécile Reynaud, secretary general of the Comité International Hector Berlioz on 21 December 12.15 -13.15 (studio)

– Screening videos “Moi, Hector Berlioz” (dir. Pierre Dupouey, 2003) and “La Symphonie Fantastique” (dir. Christian-Jaque, 1942)

– Extra concert by students of the Utrecht Conservatory (songs by Berlioz), on 20 December 18.45 (kleine zaal).

– Exhibition: reproductions of documents illustrating the reception of Berlioz’s music in the Netherlands; and a series of posters made available by the French Embassy in The Hague.

– All concerts were broadcast on Radio 4.

Berlioz Day on the BBC

Sunday 7 December 2003 – 9.00 am - 9.30pm

    BBC Radio 3 celebrated the bicentenary of Berlioz with a whole day devoted to the French composer.

    Presenter Dennis Marks took us on an odyssey through Berlioz’s life, starting at his birthplace La Côte Saint-André, then moving with him to Paris where he goes initially to study medicine. We followed him to Rome after he wins the Prix de Rome, and back again to Paris where he marries the actress Harriet Smithson and starts his stormy career as a composer/conductor. We then shadowed him on his travels across Europe as the most feted composer/conductor of his day, journeying back with him to France where he fights a vain and bitter battle to mount his great epic opera Les Troyens.

    Berlioz himself accompanied the listener on this journey, with readings by acclaimed National Theatre actor Simon Russell Beale from his compelling Memoirs, letters and criticisms.

    There were some Berlioz ‘postcards’ from a wide variety of people including Sir Colin Davis, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, John Sessions and Raymond Blanc.

    Throughout the day extracts from all his major works were heard in performances by some of the greatest Berlioz interpreters, including Charles Munch, Sir Thomas Beecham, Pierre Monteux, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Sir Colin Davis.

    The day climaxed with a broadcast of The Damnation of Faust in a performance recorded live at the Barbican by the LSO and Sir Colin Davis.

Here are the details:

9.00  Berlioz’s Birthplace – La Côte St. André, near Grenoble

Events/influences: Virgil, outdoors, religion, Estelle (his first love to whom he returned more that 50 years later)
Messe Solemnelle (excerpts), Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique/John Eliot Gardiner

9.15Paris – Student Years

A look at the Berlioz’s student days, with excerpts from Les Francs-Juges, the Messe solennelle, Romeo and Juliet, Cléopâtre and the Symphonie fantastique.

Les Francs-Juges (Trio), Soloists, LSO/Colin Davis
Messe Solemnelle (Resurrexit), Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique/John Eliot Gardiner
Roméo et Juliette (Grand Bal chez Capulet), LSO/Colin Davis
Overture Les Francs-Juges, London Classical Players/Norrington
Cléopâtre, Jessye Norman, Orchestre de Paris/Daniel Barenboim
Le Roi de Thulé, Von Stade, Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Solti
Symphonie Fantastique (first movement), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Davis

11.00 Rome and the Abruzzi

Rome and the Abruzzi. Berlioz in Italy, with recordings of the Roman Carnival and La belle voyageuse and excerpts from Tristia, Harold in Italy and Benvenuto Cellini.

Overture Carnaval Romain, Boston Symphony Orchestra/Munch
La belle voyageuse, Diana Montague, Lyon Opera Orchestra/Gardiner
Méditation Religieuse from Tristia, London Symphony Orchestra/Davis
La Captive, Catherine Robbin, Lyon Opera Orchestra/Gardiner
Harold in Italy (3rd and 4th movements), Tabea Zimmermann/London Symphony Orchestra/Davis
Benvenuto Cellini (Act 1 Shrove Tuesday scene), Soloists, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Davis

12.15 Paris – Marriage to Harriet Smithson

Berlioz marries Harriet Smithson and becomes a critic. With excerpts from the Symphonie fantastique, the Requiem and Benvenuto Cellini.

Symphonie Fantastique (2nd movement), ORR/Gardiner
Requiem (Dies Irae and Tuba Mirum, Sanctus and Hosanna), French Radio Chorus and Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein
Benvenuto Cellini (Final scene), Soloists, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Davis

13.20 Berlioz and France

An exploration of Berlioz’s ambiguous relationship with his native land, its politics, economics, education, language, music and society. Contributors included: Professors Hugh MacDonald and Peter Bloom, Katharine Kolb, Cécile Renauld, Catherine Massip and Gunther Braam.

13.40 Paris – Berlioz the Critic

Conducting, writing Romeo and Juliet, and turning critic. With excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and the Symphonie funèbre et triomphale.

Romeo and Juliet (Queen Mab Scherzo), Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique/Gardiner
Symphonie funèbre et triomphale, London Symphony Orchestra/Davis

13.55 Drama: Harriet

A short drama about Berlioz and Harriet Smithson written specially for Radio 3’s Berlioz Day by Hattie Naylor. With Fiona Shaw as Harriet and Simon Russell Beale as the composer.

14.10 Travels in Europe

The story of Berlioz’s marriage break-up and his travels in Europe. With excerpts from Les nuits d’été and The Damnation of Faust and a recording of the overture Le Corsaire.

Absence from Les Nuits d’été, Janet Baker, New Philharmonia Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
Le Spectre de la Rose from Les Nuits d’été, Régine Crespin, Suisse Romande Orchestra/Ernest Ansermet
Damnation of Faust (extracts), Kenneth Riegel, Chicago Symphony Chorus and Orchestra/Solti
Overture Le Corsaire, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Thomas Beecham

15.30 Paris, La Côte St. André, Weimar

Berlioz Day continued with the 1848 Revolution and the death of the composer’s father. Excerpts from Tristia and L’Enfance du Christ and a recording of the overture Benvenuto Cellini.

Marche funèbre pour la Dernière scène d’Hamlet (Tristia), Cleveland Orchestra/Boulez
L’Enfance du Christ (extracts), Soloists, La Chapelle Royale, Orchestre des Champs Elysées/Philippe Herreweghe
Overture Benvenuto Cellini, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux

16:15 Back to the Future

A discussion of the forces of Romanticism, classicism and the avant-garde in Berlioz’s masterpieces. Contributions from Berlioz performers and experts, including John Eliot Gardiner, Katherine Kolb and Julian Rushton.

16.30 Weimar, Paris – The Trojans

Liszt mounts a second Berlioz festival. Berlioz meets Wagner and Harriet dies. Music: La mort d’Ophèlie and excerpts from L’Enfance du Christ, the Te Deum and The Trojans.

La Mort d’Ophélie (Tristia), Cleveland Orchestra/Boulez
L’Enfance du Christ (extracts), Soloists, La Chapelle Royale, Orchestre des Champs Elysées/Philippe Herreweghe
Te Deum (extract), London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra/Davis
The Trojans (excerpts), Soloists, London Symphony Orchestra/Davis

17.55 Baden-Baden/Paris – the Final Years

The final chapter of Berlioz’s extraordinary life. Music includes the Overture to Beatrice and Benedict, the final scene from The Trojans and Au cimetière from Les Nuits d’été.

Beatrice and Benedict (Overture), London Symphony Orchestra/Davis
The Trojans (final scene), Susan Graham, Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique/Gardiner
Au Cimetière (Nuits d’été), Janet Baker, New Philharmonia Orchestra/Barbirolli

19.00 The Damnation of Faust

Radio 3’s celebration of the Berlioz bicentenary ended with a complete performance of The Damnation of Faust conducted by Colin Davis, with tenor Giuseppe Sabbatini as Faust.

Giuseppe Sabbatini (tenor, Faust)
Enkelejda Shkosa (mezzo soprano, Marguerite)
Michele Pertusi (bass, Méphistophélès)
David Wilson-Johnson (bass, Brander)
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis (conductor)

Berlioz – BBC’s Composer of the Week

    Berlioz was BBC Radio 3’s ‘Composer of the Week’ from Monday 8 to Friday 12 December 2003.

Monday 8 December 12.00-13.00

1: Berlioz the Song Writer

    Biographer and Berlioz authority David Cairns joins Donald Macleod all this week to talk about aspects of Hector Berlioz’s music. In this morning’s programme they discuss Berlioz’s song-writing. Berlioz’s earliest compositions were songs, some of which may have been written whilst he was still living at home with his parents in La Côte-Saint-André. As a young man keen to further his musical studies Berlioz moved to Paris in 1821 but although he became enthused with writing larger orchestral works he continued to write songs intermittently up until 1850, expanding and developing the genre.

Elégie (Irlande), Robert Tear (tenor), Viola Tunnard (piano)
Le Jeune Pâtre breton, John Aler (tenor), Bernd Schenk (horn), Cord Garben (piano)
Les nuits d’été, Susan Graham (mezzo soprano), Royal Opera House Orchestra, John Nelson (conductor)
La Mort d’Ophélie, Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo soprano), Cord Garben (piano)

Tuesday 9 December 12.00-13.00

2: Berlioz’s Religious Music

    In today’s programme Donald Macleod and the Berlioz expert David Cairns consider Berlioz’s contribution to religious works. Although he is often considered primarily as a dramatic composer nonetheless Berlioz produced three of his greatest works for the church, the Grande Messe des morts or Requiem in 1837, the Te Deum of 1849 and the biblical oratorio l’Enfance du Christ between 1850-1854.

Prière (Act 2, Benvenuto Cellini)
Teresa Christiane Eda-Pierre (soprano), Jane Berbié (mezzo soprano)
Royal Opera House Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis (conductor)

Excerpt from Messe Solennelle
Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Excerpt from Grande Messe des morts
Royal Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham (conductor)

Prière du Matin
Female members of Chamber Choir of Lyon National Orchestra, Noël Lee (piano), Bernard Tétu (director)

Judex crederis (Te Deum)
Massed choirs, European Community Youth Orchestra, Martin Haselböck (organ), Claudio Abbado (conductor)

Epilogue from l’Enfance du Christ
Paul Agnew (tenor), La Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale
Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Philippe Herreweghe (director)

Wednesday 10 December 12.00-13.00

3: Berlioz the Dramatist

    Donald Macleod and David Cairns look at the inspirations behind Berlioz’s dramatic expression. Principal among these were the music of Beethoven, Virgil’s Aeneid and other works of classical literature, Shakespeare, and Goethe’s Faust.

Cléopâtre (excerpt) Janet Baker (mezzo)
London Symphony Orchestra, conductor Colin Davis

Overture: Le Roi Lear
Scottish National Orchestra, conductor Alexander Gibson

La Damnation de Faust (excerpts, including the Dance of the Sylphs and the Invocation to Nature)
Nicolai Gedda (tenor), Jules Bastin (bass), London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, conductor Colin Davis

Thursday 11 December 12.00-13.00

4: Berlioz the Symphonist

    Donald Macleod and Berlioz expert David Cairns consider the artistic viewpoint from which Berlioz approached the symphony. He saw it as a form of drama which could equal any of Shakespeare’s. His scale of vision and ideas about orchestration were ahead of his time, and his earliest symphonic work, the Symphonie Fantastique, which was composed in 1830, had an electrifying effect on the audience, who had never heard anything like it before. Harold in Italy followed in 1834, inspired by Byron’s dramatic poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and Berlioz’s own memories of happy times spent in the Abruzzi mountains outside Rome. Like Beethoven before him, Berlioz’s innovations challenged the way in which symphonic music was regarded.

Ronde du Sabbat (Symphonie Fantastique)
LSO, conductor Colin Davis

Harold in Italy (2nd movement)
Tabea Zimmermann (viola), London Symphony Orchestra, conductor Colin Davis
Symphonie funèbre et triomphale (1st movement) (excerpt)
Montreal Symphony Orchestra, conductor Charles Dutoit

Roméo et Juliette (finale)
Gilles Cachemaille (baritone), Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, conductor John Eliot Gardiner

Friday 12 December 12.00-13.00

5: Berlioz the Opera Composer

    Donald Macleod and David Cairns turn their attention to Berlioz’s three operas.

L’Amour est un flambeau (Béatrice et Bénédict, Act 2)
Enkelejda Shkosa, (mezzo), Kenneth Tarver (tenor), London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, conductor Colin Davis

Trio (Benvenuto Cellini, Act I)
Christiane Eda-Pierre (soprano), Nicolai Gedda (tenor), Robert Massard (baritone), BBC SO, conductor Colin Davis

Benvenuto Cellini, Act 1 Scene 8
Nicolai Gedda (tenor), Derek Blackwell (tenor), Robert Lloyd (bass), Royal Opera House Chorus, BBC SO, conductor Colin Davis

Benvenuto Cellini, Act 2, Scene 1
BBC SO, conductor Colin Davis

Je crois en vous
Thomas Allen (baritone), Cord Garben (piano)

Dieu! Que viens-je d’entendre.. Il m’en souvient (Act2, Béatrice et Bénédict)
Enkelejda Shkosa (mezzo), London Symphony Orchestra, conductor Colin Davis

Duet (Les Troyens, Act 3)
Michelle DeYoung (mezzo), Anna Sara Mingardo (alto), LSO, conductor Colin Davis

Les Troyens, Finale to Act I
Ben Heppner (tenor), Petra Lang (mezzo), Alan Ewing (bass), London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, conductor Colin Davis

The above programme was repeated at 12 mid-night (GMT) in the week starting on Sunday 14 through Friday 18 December.

Berlioz at the National Library of Scotland – Edinburgh

    To mark the bicentenary of the birth of  Berlioz in December 1803 the National Library of Scotland exhibited a small selection of music and documents from its renowned Berlioz collections.

Place: Events Hall, George IV Bridge Building

Dates: 17 December 2003 - 21 January 2004 (closed 25, 26 Dec and 1, 2 Jan)

    Also, a talk entitled “Hector Berlioz: Notes and Documents”, by the distinguished Berlioz scholar Hugh Macdonald, Avis Blewett Professor of Music at Washington University in St Louis, took place on Wed 17 December 2003, 7.00pm.

Berlioz and Wagner at the 23rd Musical Autumn of Nîmes, France

    The Cercle Richard Wagner Nîmes Languedoc offered a talk, entitled Berlioz and Wagner, as part of the 23rd Musical Autumn of Nîmes in France. The talk was given by Monsieur Jean-Philippe Dartevel, musicologue, at the Carré d’Art Nîmes at 2.30pm on Saturday 13 December 2003.

    ‘Berlioz and Wagner’ is in a way the story of a meeting that failed to take place, perhaps because, as the author of Les Troyens himself said, ‘mountains cannot meet’. Although both men did occasionally meet and shake hands ‘above the plain’, they could not really come to terms with each other, as they both championed a different conception of their art.

    This talk, written for the bicentenary of Berlioz’s birth, sought to promote a better understanding of the ambiguous and complex relationship between the two men, which over a period of nearly thirty years mingled rejection with admiration and love with hate. It attempted to assess the influence of Berlioz’s art on that of Richard Wagner, and made it possible to understand how these two great figures of the 19^th century, starting from the same musical sources, ended by reaching opposite results. Nowadays there is nothing to prevent one loving Roméo et Juliette as much as Tristan und Isolde, but for different qualities, just as one can love at the same time the south and the north, music and drama, or light and darkness.

    You may also like to read a French language play, entitled Entente Cordiale, written by M. Olivier Teitgen and based on a meeting between Berlioz and Wagner which took place in June 1855 in London.

Commemorative plaque at the Paris Conservatoire

    To commemorate Berlioz’s association with the Paris Conservatoire, the Cultural Department of the German multinational company Bayer, in cooperation with Bayer France and the Association nationale Hector Berlioz, has taken the imitative of installing a commemorative plaque on the façade of the Conservatoire (the old Conservatoire building in Rue de Conservatoire). The ceremony to inaugurate this plaque took place at 5.00pm on Sunday 14 December 2003. The ceremony was followed by a concert at the Conservatoire by the students of the Conservatoire. See also other bicentenary events and concerts organised by the Cultural Department of Bayer: “Berlioz and his time”.

Berlioz on Swedish television

    On Thursday 2 October, Swedish television celebrated the bicentenary of Berlioz’s birth with a 50 minute music documentary entitled “Hector in Italy”. The production was based on Berlioz’s symphony Harold en Italie, and the composer’s own experiences in Italy, where he spent some time as the Prix de Rome laureate between 1830 and 1832.

    In October 1831 Berlioz walked “over flood and field” from Naples to Rome together with two Swedes named Mauritz Klingspor and Carl Stephan Bennet. The film traces the footsteps of these three young men on the road to the Abruzzies. The story is told by Berlioz (Mémoires) and a newly found diary of Carl Stephan Bennet.

    The producers of the film have established the full identity of the two Swedes, whom Berlioz only mentions as Bennet and Klingsporn. Carl Stephan Bennet was a Swedish officer and a skilled artist. He made vivid sketches of people and places they passed. The discovery of his amusing diary offers a more detailed description of the journey compared to the story told by Berlioz in his Mémoires.

    The symphony Harold en Italie was played by The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Manfred Honeck; the viola soloist was Lars Anders Tomter.

Berlioz in South Africa

    Cape Town Opera, in collaboration with the French Institute, commemorated the bicentenary of the birth of Berlioz with two performances of La Damnation de Faust on 9 and 12 September at the Artscape Opera House. Gerard Korsten conducted the massed Cape Town Opera Chorus and Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert featured French tenor Jean-Francis Monvoisin in the role of Faust, South African bass baritone Abel Moeng as Méphistophélès and Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Violina Anguelov as Marguerite.

    Talks on La Damnation de Faust were given in the Orchestra Rehearsal Studio before performances.

Berlioz bicentenary celebrations/concerts in Copenhagen

    The Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR (DNSO) – Denmark’s leading orchestra – based at Danish State Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen performed the following works of Berlioz to mark his bicentenary:

    All concerts were with the DNSO and took place at the Danish Radio House Broadcasting Concert Hall, Copenhagen; they were broadcast live on the Danish Radio.

Berlioz at the Île de France Festival

    The Festival ran from 3 September to 12 October. To celebrate the bicentenary of Berlioz’s birth, the evening of 4 October was devoted to Berlioz and Shakespeare. Its main theme was taken from the 19th century literary works which recounted life of the spirits after death, their sojourns in the Elysée and their return to earth to share with the living a desire for vengeance or chagrin of love – a theme that runs through some of the works of both Berlioz and Shakespeare. A Masterclass was also held in conjunction with the concert over a period of 5 days.

    Here are the details:

La Vie est un songe [Life is a dream]
Berlioz et Shakespeare

Eglise Saint-Basile, Etampes

Saturday 4 October 2003, at 8.45pm

Solistes de Lyon-Bernard Tétu
Philippe Cassard, piano
Jean-Claude Mathon, actor
Bernard Tétu, director

    This event was organised in collaboration with the City of Etampes.

Masterclass

    The participants of the Masterclass, both amateur and professional, practised directing choir and soloists; the majority of works studied were the excerpts of the concert programme as detailed above.

Venue: l’ENMD d’Evry (91) – 9/11 cours Roméro, 91 000 Evry
Dates: from 27 September to 3 October 2003

“Berlioz, le Côtois” on Radio France Bleu Isère

    France Bleu Isère, a Radio France station in the Department of Isère, celebrated Berlioz’s bicentenary by broadcasting a 10-episode series entitled “Berlioz, le Côtois”. The series, conceived and written by Christine Martinez, charted “the life of this composer from Isère who became a musician against the wishes of his family”.

    The speakers were: Lucien Chamard-Bois, who worked for the Musée Berlioz from 1987 to 1995, Christian Wasselin, writer and musicologue at the Music Department of Radio France and Patrick Fonvieille, professor at the Lycée professionnel de la Bièvre.

    The series was broadcast from 18 to 29 August, at 8.20am and 1.45pm, French time.

Bicentenary broadcasts on Radio France – France Musiques

    As part of the celebrations of Berlioz’s 200th birthday, France Musiques broadcast the concerts listed below. The times given for the broadcasts in the table are local French times.

14th July celebrations in Grenoble – Homage to Hector Berlioz

    This year, as part of the events to celebrate the bicentenary of Berlioz’s birth, the City of Grenoble decided to pay homage to Berlioz by devoting three exceptional days to him: 12, 13, and 14 July.

    Two concerts were organised for 12 and 13 July at the Jardin de Ville and the Parc de la Villeneuve. Excerpts from Berlioz’s music as well as works by composers who were strongly influenced by Berlioz’s œuvre were performed at these concerts.

    Details of the concerts were as follow:

Concert on 12 July 2003, 6.00-8.00pm at Jardin de Ville

– Berlioz : Marche de Rakoczy (two pianos, eight hands)
– Paganini : Caprice (violin)
– Liszt : Tarentelle (piano)
– Berlioz : Les Nuits d’été (piano, soprano)
– Fauré : Dolly (excerpts) (piano, four hands)
– Saint-Saëns : Introduction et rondo capriccioso (violin and piano)
– Ravel : Ma mère l’Oye (excerpts) (piano, four hands)
– Saint-Saëns : Le Carnaval des Animaux, grande fantaisie zoologique

Concert 13 July 2003, 6.00-8.00pm at Villeneuve – Place Rouge

– Berlioz : Marche de Rakoczy (two pianos, eight hands)
– Alkan : Chanson de la folle au bord de la mer (piano)
– Boëly : Andante en sol mineur (piano)
– Berlioz : Les Nuits d’été (excerpts) (piano, soprano)
– Fauré : Andante ou Berceuse (violin piano)
– Les berceaux – Après un rêve – Clair de lune – Sicilienne
– Ravel : Sonate for piano and violin
– Taffanel : Fantaisie sur des airs du Freischütz (flute and piano)
– Waxman : Fantaisie sur “Carmen” de Bizet (violin, piano)
– Saint-Saëns : Le Carnaval des Animaux, grande fantaisie zoologique

    On the third day, the traditional firework display of the 14th July [the Bastille Day] had been conceived as a musical score, composed of a large number of excerpts from Berlioz’s works. The display would underline in a spectacular fashion the passion and romanticism that fired off Berlioz’s music, as outlined below.

Excerpts of Berlioz’s orchestral works on six themes:
– The ardour and the impetuosity “La Marche Triomphale”
– The youth and the la nature “La Danse des Sylphes”
– The dream and the love “Un Bal from Symphonie fantastique”
– The women “L’Invitation à la Valse”
– The travels “Benvenuto Cellini”
– The despair “La Marche Funèbre”
– The political engagement "La Marseillaise"
– The rage “La Damnation de Faust”

    However, the musical fireworks display was cancelled because of the dry summer weather in France which made such displays unsafe. The concerts went of course ahead as planned.

Berlioz at Ravinia Festival – One Score, One Chicago

    Berlioz featured prominently at the 2003 Ravinia Festival, held in Highland Park, Illinois, USA.

    One Score One Chicago programme formed a part of the festival and the organisers chose Symphonie Fantastique to launch the programme. Three different interpretations of the Symphonie were presented as the centrepiece of the programme: Chistoph Eschenbach led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a traditional concert performance on 25 July; David Alan Miller conducted the Ravinia Festival Orchestra in a “Lighthearted Classics” concert targeted at families and children on 17 August. The puppeteer Basil Twist presented a uniquely visual approach to the symphony by manipulating feathers, glitter, mirrors, slides, dye, air bubbles and more in a massive thousand-gallon water tank.

    In conjunction with the programme, a series of free lectures about Symphonie Fantastique were given at Chicago Public Libraries, Suburban Public Libraries, North Suburban Public Libraries and Chicagoland stores (between 10 June and 28 August). A free Children’s Symphonie Fantastique Activity Hour was also planned for 16 August at the Highland Park Public Library.

    In addition to the above, the Ravinia Festival included performances of Les Nuits d’été, Harold en Italie and Der Freischütz (1841 version, Weber/Berlioz).

Prague Autumn International Music Festival – 2003

    This year’s festival, which took place between 11 September and 1 October (inclusive) featured the following works of Berlioz:

International conference on Berlioz at Grenoble – October 2003

16, 17, 18 October 2003

Colloquium on “Hector Berlioz, regards sur un Dauphinois Fantastique” [Hector Berlioz, looking at an extraordinary Dauphinois]

The conference was organised by:

– Association nationale Hector Berlioz
– Bibliothèque municipale de Grenoble
– Université Pierre Mendès-France, Grenoble
– Département d’histoire des arts et musicologie
– CRHIPA (Centre de recherche en histoire et histoire de l’art. Italie-Pays alpins)

With collaboration and support of:
– Conseil général de l’Isère
– Villes de Grenoble et de La Côte-Saint-André
– Métro
– Région Rhône-Alpes
– Musée Hector-Berlioz et Musée de Grenoble
– Association L’Oreille en fête – Musée en musique
– SACEM

The conference focused on the following themes:

Berlioz et son temps [Berlioz and his time]
L’homme et son image [The man and his image]
Au cœur de la musique [At the heart of music]
Entre nature et peinture [Between nature and painting]

The main venue was the auditorium of the Grenoble Museum.

The conference closed with a visit to Berlioz-related locations in La Côte-Saint-André.

Here are the details:

16 October 2003

10.00: Opening speech, by the Conseil général of the Isère; Introduction by Yves Gérard

10.30: BERLIOZ ET SON TEMPS

– Gérard Streletski : Berlioz et la société de son temps
– Frédéric-Georges Lamotte : Berlioz et la presse
– Guillaume Bordry : Berlioz écrivain

12.00: Lunch

14.00: L’HOMME ET SON IMAGE

– Jacques Boucharlat : Louis Berlioz, médecin et précepteur
– Yves Rassendren : Berlioz et sa formation musicale
– Peter Bloom : Berlioz et ses biographes
– Gunther Braam : Portraits de Berlioz

18.00: Visit to the exhibition: « Berlioz, l’aventure musicale » organised by the Bibliothèque municipale de Grenoble,
in the old Musée-Bibliothèque, place de Verdun. There will be a cocktail reception hosted by the Grenoble Municipality.

17 October 2003

9.00: AU CŒUR DE LA MUSIQUE

– Rémy Stricker : Berlioz et la chanson populaire
– Benoît Aubigny : Berlioz et l’écriture vocale
– Alban Ramaut : Berlioz et ses livrets
– Patrick Barbier : Berlioz et Spontini
– Patrick Favre-Tissot : Berlioz et Meyerbeer
– Serge Baudo : closing speech

12.00: Lunch

14.00: ENTRE NATURE ET PEINTURE

– Cécile Reynaud : Berlioz européen
– Marianne Clerc : Berlioz et Fantin-Latour
– Barthélémy Jobert : Berlioz et Delacroix
– Marie Birbili : Berlioz et la nature
– Robert H Tissot : Berlioz et l’esthétique du sublime et de l’insolite

20.30: Concert at the auditorium of the musée de Grenoble
organised by the Association L’Oreille en fête – Musée en musique : Berlioz, Weber, Liszt, Heller
Anne G. Lemarchand (viola) and Christian Bernard (piano)

18 October 2003

PILGRIMAGE TO LA CÔTE SAINT-ANDRÉ

8.30: Departure by bus

9.30: Visit to the musée Berlioz

11.15:

Salle Henri-Gérard du château Louis XI

– David Cairns : Berlioz et sa cité natale
– Dominique Catteau : Berlioz et le XXIe siècle
– Conclusions and close of the conference

12.00: Lunch

The Cambridge Music Festival

    This year the Cambridge Music Festival, which took place between 8 and 26 November 2003, celebrated Berlioz’s bicentenary. The following were the Berlioz-related events/concerts at the festival:

    The festival also included a Berlioz Bicentenary Exhibition, held at Clare Hall from 6 to 27 November daily. This is a special exhibition of posters designed to mark the bicentenary of Berlioz’s birth, offering a richly illustrated and fascinating insight into the composer’s life and work. All in French, the posters display a detailed chronology, quotes from Berlioz’s letters and memoirs, reproductions of his scores, paintings that influenced him, photographs of himself and of his contemporaries, together with numerous cartoons, concert programmes and handbills.

Berlioz Bicentennial Conference: “Hector Berlioz in the Age of French Romanticism” – Denton

    This international conference was organised by the division of Music History, Theory and Ethnomusicology of the University of North Texas College of Music, Denton, USA. It was held on 11-12 November 2003. The conference and its related events were free and open to the public.

    The conference focused on interdisciplinary aspects of music history/theory and literature-criticism/aesthetics related to Hector Berlioz and his context:

– Berlioz’s approach to (and reflection of) poetic ideas and concepts and their impact on his musical style
– Berlioz’s relationship to former and contemporary composers: acceptance and transformation of compositional techniques and aesthetics in comparison
– Berlioz’s writings with a focus on French Romanticism and contemporary critical writing
– Literature of the French Romantic era: topics, characters, and transformations

    International and national contributors came from different areas of research (French literature, musicology, and music theory):

D. Kern Holoman, Keynote lecture: Berlioz, Lately
Vera Micznik, Berlioz’s ‘Surtitles’ in Les Troyens and the Requiem
Claude Fouillade, Berlioz, Hugo and French Romanticism
Arnold Jacobshagen, Berlioz and the German Critics
Alexandra Wettlaufer, Composing Romantic Identity: Berlioz and the Sister Arts
Jeffrey Langford, The Intersection of Autobiography and Literature in the Dramatic Works of Berlioz
Jennifer Hambrick, The Composer as Littérateur: Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette and the Aesthetics of the Symphonie dramatique
Stephen Rodgers, Mixing Genres, Mixing Forms: Sonata and Song in Le Carnaval romain
Dorothea Baumann, Hector Berlioz’s writings, an invaluable source for the history of performance practice and its relation to room acoustics
Michael Collins, Manuscript Studies on Roméo et Juliette
Michael Cooper, Mendelssohn’s Berlioz, Berlioz’s Mendelssohn
Graham Phipps,La Damnation de Faust
David Odegaard, Key-relationships in Roméo et Juliette
Michael Lively, The Narrative in Harold en Italie

Panel Discussion: Berlioz – Atheist between Empire and Industry
a) Frank Heidlberger, Introductory Remarks
b) William McGinney, Berlioz’s Religious works 
c) John Dribus, Berlioz and Faust

PROGRAMME

TUESDAY, 11 NOVEMBER

Opening session: 9.00am – Concert Hall

• Welcome addresses: Dr. James Scott, Dean of the College of Music at UNT and Dr. Lester Brothers, Chair of the Division of History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology
• Dr. Frank Heidlberger: Introduction to the conference

Session I: 9.30am – Concert Hall

Chair: Dr. David Schwarz, topics: Requiem, Overtures, Mendelssohn

• Dr. Vera Micznik (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) Berlioz’s “Surtitles” in Les Troyens and the Requiem
• Dr. John Michael Cooper (UNT) Berlioz and Mendelssohn: Obscure(d) Affinities
• Michael Lively (UNT) The “Narrative” in Harold en Italie
• Stephen Rodgers (Yale University) Mixing Genres, Mixing Forms: Sonata and Song in Le Carnaval Romain

Session II: 1.30pm – Concert Hall

Chair: Dr. Lester Brothers, topics: Berlioz and the Sister Arts, French Romanticism, Dramatic Works, Reception

• Dr. Alexandra Wettlaufer (University of Texas, Austin) Composing Romantic Identity: Berlioz and the Sister Arts
• Dr. Claude Fouillade (New Mexico State University) Berlioz, Hugo and French Romanticism
• Dr. Jeffrey Langford (Manhattan School of Music, NY) The Intersection of Autobiography and Literature in the Dramatic Works of Berlioz
• Dr. Arnold Jacobshagen (Universität Bayreuth, Germany) Berlioz and the German Critics
• Antonio Baldassarre (Universität Zürich) Aspects of the Reception of Berlioz’s Music in Prague in the Late 1840s

WEDNESDAY, 12 NOVEMBER

Session III: 9.00am – Concert Hall

Chair: Dr. Deanna Bush, topics: Berlioz and Literature, Roméo et Juliette

• Jennifer Hambrick (University of Iowa) The Composer as Littérateur: Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette and the Aesthetics of the Symphonie dramatique
• David Odegaard (UNT) Key-relationships in Roméo et Juliette
• Dr. Michael Collins (UNT) Refining the Knowledge of Revisions in Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette

Session IV: 2.30pm – MUS 321

Chair: Dr. Stephen Slottow, topics: Performance Practice, Faust, Berlioz and Religion)

• Dr. Dorothea Baumann (Universität Zürich) Hector Berlioz’s writings, an invaluable source for the history of performance practice and its relation to room acoustics
• Dr. Graham Phipps (UNT) A Nineteenth-Century Interpretation of the Perfect Consonance that may not be Sung: Hector Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust
• Panel Discussion: Berlioz’s Religion between Empire and Melancholy (John Dribus, Dr. Frank Heidlberger, William McGinney, all UNT)

KEYNOTE LECTURE: Wednesday, 12 November, 11.45am: Dr. D. Kern Holoman (University of California at Davis) Berlioz, Lately

CONCERTS:

Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 6.00pm, Concert Hall

VOCAL RECITAL:

• From La Damnation de Faust “Une Puce Gentille,” Le Chasseur Danois, Op. 19, No. 6: Jeffrey Snider, baritone.
• From Roméo et Juliette “Premiers transports que nul n’oublie”: Linda di Fiore, contralto.
• Adieu, Bessy, Op. 2 No. 8, Petit Oiseau, Op. 13 No. 2, Les Champs, Op. 19, No. 2: Stephen Austin, tenor, Harold Heiberg, piano.
• Zaide (Bolero), Op. 19, No. 1: Lynn Eustis, soprano, Mark Ford, Castanets.
• From Béatrice et Bénédict “Héro, d’un coeur aimant, sera la joie et la bonheur supreme”: Lynn Eustis, Héro, Elizabeth King, Béatrice, Linda Di Fiore, Ursula.

Wednesday, 12 November 2003, 2.00pm, Concert Hall

BERLIOZ AND CONTEMPORARIES IN THE CHAMBER – Arrangements of Berlioz’s works for chamber ensembles

• Hector Berlioz: Hungarian March, from La Damnation de Faust, Graduate Wind Quintet: Maria Harman, flute, Josh Arvizu, oboe, Garry Evans, clarinet, Noel Garcia, bassoon, Mike Harcrow, horn.
• Antoine Reicha: Bläserquintett Es-Dur, Op. 88, No. 2, Graduate Wind Quintet
• Hector Berlioz: Dance of the Sylphs, from La Damnation de Faust, LeeAnne Skul, flute, Natalia Bolshakova, piano
• Hector Berlioz: Rêverie for violin and piano, Iskandar Kamilov, violin, Natalia Bolshakova, piano

Berlioz at the Théâtre du Châtelet

    In addition to 6 staged performances of Les Troyens conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Théâtre du Châtelet’s 2003/2004 season included a number of other works of Berlioz. Here is the full list of scheduled performances.

    You will find a review of Les Troyens by Sue Vernon in the Reviews section of our site.

Berlioz at the BBC Proms 2003

    This year’s Proms included the following works of Berlioz in celebration of his bicentenary:

All concerts took place at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and were broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. 
The following concerts were also broadcast on BBC television:

19 July (BBC1, 20 July, recorded)
26 July (BBC4, live)
28 July (BBC4, live)
9 August (BBC2, live)
13 September (BBC1/BBC2, live)

As part of the BBC Proms Chamber Music 2003, the following works of Berlioz were performed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the concert was broadcast live on the BBC Radio 3.

Festival Musique at the Sorbonne, Paris – Berlioz and his Contemporaries 19 - 24 June 2003

The following works of Berlioz were included in the programme of the Festival:

    In addition to Berlioz, the following composers, who were his predecessors, contemporaries and successors, featured in the programme:
Beethoven, Weber, Schubert, Liszt, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Paganini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Le Sueur, Jadin, Blanc, Reber, Onslow,
David, Lhoyer, Meyer, Pixis, Moschelès, Pugno, Saint-Saëns, Delibes, Bizet, Lalo, Dukas.

    Other events which took place as part of the festival were:

1. Three panel discussions:

2. Berlioz Exhibition (19-25 June)

“Berlioz musicien raconté par Berlioz écrivain” [Berlioz the musician described by Berlioz the writer], see also Bicentenary Celebrations 2.

Berlioz in Singapore

    The Singapore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lan Shui and Lim Yau, celebrated Berlioz’s bicentenary by performing the following works:

Festival Berlioz in Japan

    The Association Franco-Japonaise des Amis de la Musique (Association of Franco-Japanese Friends of Music) celebrated Berlioz’s bicentennial with a programme of lecture and concerts, as outlined below:

Celebrations 2    Celebrations 3    Celebrations 4

The Hector Berlioz Website was created by Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin on 18 July 1997;
The Bicentenary Celebrations pages created on 27 December 2000, and reorganised on 10 May 2003; substantial additions and updates made since. Last revision on 1 April 2023.

© Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin

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