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