Marie

Donald Macleod introduces us to Berlioz’s enigmatic mistress and second wife.

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’s success finds him touring across Europe, with a mystery companion who claims to be his wife. We’ll trace his affair with the opera singer, Marie Recio, as his real marriage crumbles, and Marie’s disguise soon becomes a reality. In this less obsessive relationship, he’ll find a new kind of love – and loyalty.

Marche Hongroise
London Symphony Orchestra
Simon Rattle, conductor

Nuits d’été (1. Villanelle, 5. Absence)
Brigitte Balleys, mezzo-soprano
Orchestre des Champs-Elysees
Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Symphonie Fantastique (4th movement – Marche au supplice)
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Robin Ticciati, conductor

L’Enfance du Christ, Part II : La fuite en Egypte
Yann Beuron, tenor
Tenebrae
London Symphony Orchestra
Colin Davis, conductor

Béatrice et Bénedict, Act II No 10 : “Dieu, que viens j’entendre?....Il m’en souvient “
Susan Graham, soprano (Beatrice)
Choeur et Orchestre de l’Opera de Lyon
John Nelson, conductor

Produced in Cardiff by Amelia Parker