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Donald Macleod explores more of Berlioz’s ambitious experiments in musical storytelling.

Berlioz burst onto the musical stage of 19th-century Paris, determined to break the mould of France’s elegant and refined classical style. He wanted to create music that could be bombastic, barbaric and grotesque, as well as sentimental, scintillating and sorrowful. In this, he was inspired by writers as much as fellow musicians. He was captivated by stories and crowded his imagination with the tales of Virgil, Scott, Goethe and, most of all, William Shakespeare. This week, Donald Macleod traces the tangled literary connections in Berlioz’s life and music, including the profound spell cast by Shakespeare over the composer’s art and personality.

Today, Donald follows Berlioz abroad, where the acclaim he received was a welcome contrast to the indifference he perceived from critics, audiences and theatre impresarios back home in Paris. Creating a new grand opera for the French capital seemed like a foolhardy enterprise, but Berlioz couldn’t rid himself of his childhood memories of Virgil’s epic tales about the Trojan War.

Marche hongroise
London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Sir Simon Rattle

La Damnation de Faust: Part 2 (excerpts)
Christopher Purves, baritone (Mephistopheles)
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Sir Simon Rattle

L'Enfance du Christ: Part 2, ‘La fuite en Egypte’ (excerpts)
La Chapelle Royale
Collegium Vocale Gent
Orchestre des Champs-Élysées
directed by Philippe Herreweghe

Les Troyens, Act 4: ‘Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase infinie !’
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano (Didon)
Michael Spyres, tenor (Énée)
Jean Teitgen, bass (Mercure)
Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by John Nelson

Roméo et Juliette, Parts 4 & 5
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Symphony Orchestra
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Symphony Chorus
Sir Andrew Davis