Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

The BR-Klassik label is now taking the 75th anniversary of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) in 2024 as an opportunity to make previously unreleased recordings of concerts worth listening to available on CD and as a stream for the first time. - Hector Berlioz' passionate "Symphonie fantastique", the almost revolutionary symphonic masterpiece by the great French composer, was performed by Colin Davis with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on January 15 and 16, 1987 at the Munich Philharmonie in the Gasteig. During his lifetime, Davis was regarded as an acknowledged expert on Berlioz's music; his recordings are legendary. This live recording documents a benchmark interpretation of the composition. In his "Symphonie fantastique", subtitled "Episodes from the Life of an Artist", the French composer and writer Hector Berlioz combines the structures of the musical symphony with the form of a five-part classical drama. With the help of a leitmotif (an "idée fixe"), he tells the listener about the beloved of his dreams. In this way, the "Symphonie fantastique" paved the way for the symphonic poem of the Romantic period, as well as the leitmotif method in Wagner's music dramas. "I am still unknown", wrote Berlioz in June 1829 at the age of 25. But he was certain that he could achieve resounding success with the idea for a major instrumental work. With his "Symphonie fantastique" he created a new kind of program music. He was inspired by Goethe's literature and Beethoven's symphonic music - and the fascination he felt for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, whom he saw on September 11, 1827 at the Odéon Theatre in Paris as Ophelia in Shakespeare's "Hamlet". The "Idée fixe", the main theme, refers to the artist going through his life story in various inner states of mind. The starting point of the first movement is an unhappy love affair. The music drives passionately and captivatingly towards its finale. The young composer was so fascinated by Harriet Smithson that for months he endured the agony of a passion that seemed completely hopeless. He sent countless love letters, but they were never answered. Harriet left Paris without responding to him. The premiere of the "Symphonie fantastique" took place in Paris on December 5, 1830. Harriet heard the work two years later and finally recognized the composer's genius. The two met and married on October 3, 1833; however, the marriage soon became increasingly problematic and they finally separated after several unhappy years of marriage.

• Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14