Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Rêverie et caprice; La mort d'Ophélie & Sara la beigneuse

Featuring

Thierry Fischer
Philippe Quint
Utah Symphony Orchestra
University of Utah Chamber Choir
Utah Symphony Chorus
Hector Berlioz

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Recording & Production

This recording was made in Abravanel Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah, in February 2019, with Tim Handley as the Recording Producer & Engineer.

Compositional Technique

Berlioz taught himself orchestration by studying scores and experimenting with musicians, becoming a master of the orchestra by 1830.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Berlioz believed that music was free and could do what it wanted without permission, seeing his innovations as a continuation of the past, not a repudiation.

Performer Biography

Philippe Quint, the violinist on this album, plays the magnificent 1708 'Ruby' Antonio Stradivari violin, on loan to him thanks to The Stradivari Society.

Composition History

Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, first performed in December 1830, was initially seen as a miraculous phenomenon, appearing suddenly on the Parisian artistic scene.

Composition History

Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique was directly influenced by Beethoven's symphonies, which revealed to him that the symphony could be a medium for intimate, personal, and dramatic expression.