The Bitter Fruit of Obsessive Love

Some thoughts on Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Detail from a caricature of Hector Berlioz by Anton Elfinger.
The caption read: "Heureusement la salle est solide... elle résiste." © 1982 University of Chicago Press.

If you've read Superconductor since the beginning you know that this blog has spent a lot of column length on the music of Hector Berlioz. Berlioz was an author and a music critic (much like your humble narrator.) He was also a revolutionary and romantic composer who cut an eccentric but fearless path through the cutthroat world of the Paris music scene in his lifetime. His Symphonie-fantastique, which burst upon the world in 1829, was one of the reasons for the rise of program music in the 19th century. Even more revolutionary was his use of a recurring motif or idée-fixe, whose development over the course of five movements predicted the Wagnerian idea of leitmotif.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Les Troyens

The Met brings back Berlioz' classical epic.
by Paul Pelkonen

The Trojan Horse in Act I of Les Troyens in the Met's production. That's Deborah Voigt at the left.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2003 The Metropolitan Opera.

A snarky opera commentator might call this revival The Return of the Horse. The Met brings back Francesca Zambello's stunning production of Hector Berlioz' longest opera, a sweeping adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid. And yes it's over five hours long.

When it premiered in 1858, Berlioz' five-act tragédie-lyrique was split into two halves La prise de Troi ("The Sack of Troy") and Les Troyens a Carthage. ("The Trojans at Carthage.") The Theatre-Lyrique (now the Chatelet) in Paris opted to perform the second half, with heavy cuts. La Prise remained unperformed until 1890. The complete opera had to wait until 1921. The Met plays the whole five acts. The entire show clocks in at about five-and-a-half hours, depending on the conductor--in this case Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi.

Troyens is Berlioz' most ambitious work, using repeated melodies and themes to retell the story of Enee (Aeneas), his escape from the burning city of Troy. The second half follows the Trojans across the Mediterranean and recounts Enee's his disastrous love affair with Didon, (Dido) the Queen of Carthage.  Marcello Giordani armors up as Enee. Deborah Voigt takes off her Valkyrie wings to utter warnings as Cassandra. Susan Graham sings Didon, a role created in this production by the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Fabio Luisi conducts.

Les Troyens opens December 13. Please note, start time for (most) evening performances is 6pm.

Concert Review: The Last Pictures Show

Stucky, Berlioz and Mussorgsky at the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul Pelkonen.

The Hut of Baba Yaga: Clock designed by Vladimir Hartmann
for the original art show that inspired Pictures at an Exhibition.

Normally, a Superconductor review of a New York Philharmonic concert is based on the first or second nights of a run of concerts. Due to scheduling issues (chiefly caused by the presence of the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, Tuesday night presented the rare opportunity to review the last of a set of subscription concerts.

This program, curated by Alan Gilbert, brought together works that are preoccupied primarily with visual imagery. Son et Lumiere by Steven Stucky evokes the grand sound-and-light displays that entertain visitors to the Egyptian pyramids. Berlioz' Nuits d'Eté evoke the richness of "Summer Nights." And Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (with orchestration by Maurice Ravel) chronicles a visit to an art exhibition by the composer's friend Vladimir Hartmann.

The concert opened with a new work from composer and Cornell professor Stephen Stucky. Son et lumiere is written in Mr. Stucky's ne-minimalist style. Sharp stabs of brass interact with complex percussion rhythms. At first harsh and unwelcoming, the sound-world blossoms into brief aural pleasure in the very last pages.

Although she is known for cross-dressing turns in Le Nozze di Figaro, Le Comte Ory and Ariadne Auf Naxos, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato was a powerful and decidedly feminine presence in Berlioz' six-song cycle Nuits d'Eté.. This set--one of the few works that Berlioz wrote for piano and voice, were presented here in the luxurious orchestration of 1856, which seems to drip with nostalgia and old-world decadence.

Flowers and water imagery are central to Berlioz' imagery. Ms. DiDonato brightened these already rich tonal colors with her quicksilver mezzo--bringing out the deep emotions that are written into each of these songs and singing with a lyrical flow that was glorious for sounding entirely natural. Mr. Gilbert's leadership brightened these colors further, conveying the rich complexity of Berlioz' orchestration.

Pictures at an Exhibition remains a Philharmonic war-horse. Alan Gilbert brought some new colors to this famous gallery visit, with some jarring tempo ideas to liven up Gnomus,and a moody, evocative The Old Castle featured evocative bassoon playing and the famous saxophone solo. A thunderous Bydlo set the table for the last pictures on the program, with some rock-solid tuba playing from Alan Baer.

The Catacombs were appropriately mysterious. The Hut of Baba Yaga shuddered and screamed. The Great Gate of Kiev, dominated by the percussion and brass, was an uplifting portrayal, working the original Promenade theme back into the orchestration and letting the concert end on a mighty chord.
Contact the author: E-mail Superconductor editor Paul Pelkonen.

Opera Review: All Mirth, And No Matter

Opera Boston mounts Béatrice et Bénédict.

Lady Disdain: Julie Boulianne (Béatrice) spurns Sean Pannikar (Bénédict.)
Photo by Clive Grainger © 2011. Courtesy Opera Boston.

Opera Boston continues to delve into adventurous repertory with Hector Berlioz' rarely heard Shakespeare opera Beatrice et Bénédict. Distilled from the pages of Much Ado About Nothing, the opera focuses on the romantic sparring of its two title characters. Tuesday night's performance, reviewed here, was the last of the run at the Majestic Theater. 

Tenor Sean Pannikar and mezzo Julie Boulianne made their company debuts in the title roles. Mr. Pannikar has a clear, pleasing tenor that compresses slightly when he rises above the stave. Forced to switch between sung French and spoken English for the duration of the opera, Mr. Pannikar's performance took flight the Shakespeare text yielded to Berlioz' music.

Ms. Boulianne faced similar problems, delivering the spoken dialogue with awkward flourishes. Her fine-pointed, dusky mezzo was suited to Béatrice's pert nature, but her mannerisms made this a difficult heroine to love. She improved in the second act, singing the gorgeous trio and bringing real warmth to her reconciliation and eventual marriage.

Although Béatrice is the opera's titular heroine, her cousin Hero (soprano Heather Buck) gets some of the best music to sing. The Nocturne, sung by Hero and her handmaiden Ursule, (Kelley O'Connor) wove a spell of Berliozian magic. In a manner reminiscent of the Dance of the Sylphs in La Damnation de Faust, it brought Act one to a subtle, gorgeous close.

One of Berlioz' better additions to the play is Somarone, a music master played here by baritone Andrew Funk. A conductor/composer (like Berlioz himself), this fellow's preening, fawning behavior allowed the composer to have little fun at the expense of his profession. Mr. Funk played the part for laughs, particularly the Wagnerian bit about using a particular baton to create darkness and light from his orchestra. As his performers left in disgust, one thought of Haydn's Farewell Symphony. Finally, he led the Act II Improvisation (a bawdy drinking-song) with gusto.

This is Berlioz' fourth and final opera, and his second entry in the genre of opéra-comique. In this style, spoken dialogue is used instead of recitative, interpolated between the arias and ensembles. Since French speech is usually delivered at a rapid clip, it can be challenging for an American audience to follow, even with surtitles.

The solution chosen here was to use an English translation, culled mostly from Shakespeare's text by director David Kneuss. Mr. Kneuss' treatment of the text was difficult for the actors. The characters delved in and out of Shakespeare's idiom, in a struggle to meet the needs of the libretto. The production moved the action to a 20th-century setting, in sets suggesting a Tuscan villa was a low-budget nod to Kenneth Branagh's movie version of the play.

All of the singers seemed uncomfortable delivering the dialogue, with even the lesser members of the cast falling prey to over-exaggeration. In the pit, music director Gil Rose did his best to compensate. Although the famous overture was curiously muted, the later pages of the opera sparkled, and the final double-marriage scene ended the evening on an upbeat note.

Concert Review: The Art of the Feud

Charles Dutoit conducts Berlioz' Roméo et Juliette Symphony.

Charles Dutoit conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Photo by Michael J. Lutch © 2010 Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The deep connection between the music of Hector Berlioz and the Boston Symphony Orchestra goes back to the music directorship of Charles Munch. His administration (1949-1962) coincided with the birth of the LP and the rise of stereo, and the French conductor recorded much of the Berlioz repertory with the BSO for RCA. Charles Dutoit, who began his conducting career at Tanglewood under the tutelage of Mr. Munch, later recorded a Berlioz cycle of his own (for Decca) with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Dutoit brought that experience and skill with Berlioz to Thursday night's concert at Symphony Hall. Roméo et Juliette is a sprawling six-movement "Symphonie-dramatique", that combines orchestra, chorus, and solo singers to transform Shakespeare's tragedy into a narrative told largely by the orchestra. The work, consisting of both vocal and instrumental movements, was challenging when Berlioz wrote it in 1839. It remains among his more difficult pieces to bring off in a live performance.

Berlioz' decision to set Shakespeare as a symphony was triggered in 1827, when he attended an English performance of the Bard's works in Paris, featuring one Harriet Smithson. Roméo represents Berlioz himself, smitten with Juliette/Ms. Smithson, who the composer later married and divorced. The Irish actress was also featured as the love-interest in Berlioz' earlier exercise in genre-busting, the Symphonie-fantastique.



Under Mr. Dutoit, the six movements coalesced into a fluent, cohesive whole with a firm sense of dramatic arc. The BSO strings responded well to his direction in the first movement, alternating with loud brass chords to depict street fights between the Montagues and Capulets. The small chorus, accompanying mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink set the stage for the battle between the families and the meeting of the young lovers.

It is a mark of Berlioz' innovative spirit that the lovers are not represented by singers--only by figurations within the orchestra. The vocal solos are reserved for the Narrator (Ms. Fink), Roméo's buddy Mercutio (Jean-Paul Fouchécourt) and Father Laurence (Laurent Naouri). Mr. Fouchécourt made the Queen Mab aria an exercise in fluent French tenor style, producing beautiful tone as he skipped above the sprightly accompaniment the rambling six-movement adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy into a fluent, cohesive whole.

In the next three (mostly) instrumental movements, the orchestra depicts Roméo at the ball, the following balcony scene, and the characters' eventual demise within the tomb of the Capulets. There is also the famous "Queen Mab" scherzo, which expands upon the material of Mercutio's aria to produce fairy music worthy of Mendelssohn. Mr. Dutoit led these movements with senstitivity and sympathy for the star-crossed protagonists, and the Boston forces responded with orchestral playing of the highest caliber.

The full Tanglewood Festival Chorus marched onto the stage for Juliette's funeral procession. The most powerful music in the symphony, the funeral march was played with real weight. In the finale, Mr. Naouri brought gravitas to the role of Father Laurence. As he admonished the assembled Montagues and Capulets, Mr. Naouri sang with smoky, dark tone, cutting through and over the massed orchestral and choral forces behind him.

Berlioz ends the tragedy on a note of reconciliation and an oath of friendship between the families. This  has nothing to do with Shakespeare but serves to brings his most massive symphony to an upward, almost triumphant close. After the tumult of the 2010-2011 season, the Boston players sounded as if the reconciliation was very welcome indeed.

Essential Works: Five great pieces by Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz: Composer, conductor, critic.

Probing the complex sonic world of Berlioz.

As a composer, Hector Berlioz was a maverick in 19th century Paris. Although his career had its share of successes, his unorthodox compositional style and acerbic critical writing earned him plenty of enmity in the cutthroat world of French music.

Berlioz' music was championed by Franz Liszt and rediscovered after his death. Today, his orchestral works, songs and operas have survived, even as many of the popular composers of his day have faded into obscurity.

Here's a guide to the best of Berlioz.

Symphonie-fantastique
Berlioz wrote this work based on his obsession with Harriet Smithson, an English actress whom he saw in a performance of Hamlet. The symphony, subtitled 'Episodes in the life of an Artist," chronicles a twisted version of his obsession with Ms. Smithson over five movements of increasing darkness. It climaxes with the phantasmagorical 'Dream of a Witches' Sabbath' where his love interest is cast as the blood-spattered Whore of Babylon. Whew!

Requiem (Grande Messe de Morts)
Orchestral and choral overload are the order of the day in this gigantic death mass. Berlioz deploys enormous orchestreal forces. The most notable moment is the Tuba Mirum, where the heavenly trumpets are played by four separate brass choirs, each occupying a corner of the hall. Guaranteed to wake the dead.

Romeo et Juliette
This is an elaborate hybrid, a symphony that re-tells the story of Shakespeare's play with the soloists against a rich orchestral background. Berlioz also set 'Much Ado About nothing as the opera Beatrice et Benedict.

Le Damnation de Faust
This 'symphonic drama' sets the Faust legend against an amazing landscape of chorus and orchestra. From the stirring Hungarian March to the love-music between Faust and Marguerite, this is one if Berlioz' most Romantic scores. The actual Damnation Scene, a ride into Hell when Faust is delivered into the hands of a demonic chorus singing in gibberish, is a theatrical tour de force.

Les Troyens
Berlioz had great ambitions with this five-act opera which retells the story of the fall of Troy and the subsequent wanderings of Aeneas and his people en route to the eventual founding of Rome. The opera was too ambitious for Parisian impresarios, who split the opera in two and then refused to perform the first half. Today, the whole five act work is regarded as a masterpiece of orchestration and story-telling.

Opera Review: A Hi-tech Hell

La Damnation de Faust at the Metropolitan Opera.
by Paul Pelkonen

Stairway to heaven: Marguerite ascends in La Damnation de Faust. 
Photo by Ken Howard © 2008 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera's new computer-driven mounting of The Damnation of Faust is a showcase for the staging techniques of Robert Lepage, the Quebecois director best known for his work with Peter Gabriel and Cirque de Soleil. It is the Met's first attempt to stage this Berlioz work since 1906.