成人快手

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Hector Berlioz. Today, we encounter some of the celebrated musicians he rubbed shoulders with 鈥� among them Liszt, Cherubini, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Wagner and Paganini.

It鈥檚 easy to forget that the musical giants of the past were flesh-and-blood creatures whose social interactions were generally pretty much like anyone else鈥檚. Berlioz鈥檚 first brush with the venerable Luigi Cherubini, director of the august Paris Conservatoire, has an air of farce about it, with the now sexagenarian maestro chasing the cheeky young whippersnapper around the Conservatoire library, sending books cascading in every direction, after a porter had reported him for entering the building by a door expressly designated for the use of female students. Berlioz鈥檚 relations with Franz Liszt were more decorous: Liszt paid him a call the day before the premi猫re of the Symphonie fantastique, then took him out to dinner afterwards. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful friendship, the fruits including a piano reduction by Liszt of Berlioz鈥檚 new symphony. It was in that piano reduction that Robert Schumann first became acquainted with the Symphonie fantastique, and he was so impressed with it that he published a lengthy and laudatory analysis of Berlioz鈥檚 work. The two men finally met in Leipzig some years later; apparently it was a somewhat stiff encounter, largely because neither spoke the other鈥檚 language. Berlioz became reacquainted with Felix Mendelssohn on the same trip 鈥� they had met in Rome over a decade before, when Berlioz was studying there as part of his Prix de Rome bursary. Berlioz held Mendelssohn in the highest regard, both as a man and a musician. The musically conservative Mendelssohn鈥檚 view of Berlioz was less flattering: while he recognized the genius of his French colleague鈥檚 music, he found much of it unsettling, describing the Symphonie fantastique as 鈥渦tterly loathsome 鈥� nowhere a spark, no warmth, utter foolishness, contrived passion represented through every possible exaggerated orchestral means鈥�. Berlioz鈥檚 relations with Richard Wagner were superficially cordial, but the two didn鈥檛 see eye to eye where music was concerned, Berlioz accusing Wagner of 鈥渨ishing to reduce music to a series of expressive accents鈥�, and Wagner, despite recognizing 鈥渢he greatness and power of this unique and incomparable artist鈥�, reflecting that every time he heard a major work by Berlioz he was 鈥渙n the one hand thrilled, yet at times repelled, and sometimes even altogether bored.鈥� Paganini had no such reservations about Berlioz鈥檚 music, declaring the composer to be 鈥渢he successor to Beethoven鈥�. Not only that, he was prepared to put his money where his mouth was: after hearing a performance of Berlioz鈥檚 Harold in Italy, Paganini dispatched his son, Achille, with a cheque for 20,000 francs, which gave Berlioz the financial freedom to compose his Romeo and Juliet symphony.

Messe solennelle (Quoniam tu solus Sanctus)
The Monteverdi Choir
Orchestre R茅volutionnaire et Romantique
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Berlioz (arr. Franz Liszt)
脡pisode de la vie d鈥檜n artiste 鈥� Grande Symphonie fantastique par Hector Berlioz, S470
(Un bal: Valse, Allegro ma non troppo)
Leslie Howard, piano

Le roi Lear, grande ouverture, Op 4
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Marek Janowski, conductor

Les nuits d鈥櫭﹖茅, Op 7 (Absence)
Bernarda Fink, mezzo soprano
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Kent Nagano, conductor

Romeo et Juliette, Op 17 (Part 3, Sc猫ne d鈥檃mour)
The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus
Pierre Boulez, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow for 成人快手 Wales