There was a time that I would have unashamedly described myself an avid Berliozian . Which means, to me, that I not only loved Berlioz’s music but also the classic ‘romantic’ ideal his life represented. Besides his epitomizing the dramatic life of the Romantic period artist, Berlioz clearly blazed a path with innovative forms of music that defied traditional labels, and always fed off the core stories and emotions of the turbulent period.
He was also someone whose own life reflected those struggles, both in the successes and the great disappointments, with matching personal challenges. For more on this subject, there are many excellent books such as the two-volume biography from David Cairns, and the other classic set from Jacques Barzun. Both essential and amongst my most treasured books on music, each one is a gripping and compelling read.
And though my extreme admiration of the composer has been replaced by, perhaps, a sense of balance, I was more than thrilled to see that this summer’s Bard Music Festival would be devoted to Hector Berlioz. Musical Highlights This always ground-breaking and in-depth festival closed out its intense deep dive into his own works, his peers, and those he influenced with what is arguably his greatest masterwork, “La damnation de Faust”. Although this great work is not quite an opera and certainly not a traditional symphony, Berlioz himself dubbed it a “Dramatic Legend in Four Parts”.
And it had a mixed launch. The Paris premier.