Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique

Description

Obsessive love leads to the guillotine in Berlioz’s 1830 breakout piece, Symphonie fantastique. With almost cinematic realism, the composer spins the soundtrack to his internal saga of unrequited love, producing a fantastical soundscape that has beguiled listeners for nearly 200 years. Pianist Andreas Haefliger plays Ravel’s jazzy Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, and Carlos Kalmar opens this all-French program with a symphonic poem by Parisian composer Augusta Holmès inspired by the tale of the beautiful Ethiopian princess Andromeda.