‘150 years of Berlioz’
INSIDE the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), a select few hundreds gathered at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo, where the institution hosted Berlioz and Friends, a concert held in honor of Hector Berlioz, organized in partnership with the Embassy of France to the Philippines and Stores Specialists Inc.
The spectacle was as huge as the artist, with no less than the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and master conductors Michaël Cousteau and Yoshikazu Fukumura helming the concert as a tribute to one of the boldest pioneers in new orchestral sonorities—a radical who, even 150 years after his death, remains relevant in the musical pantheon.
“Twenty-nineteen marks an important milestone in classical music: the 150th death anniversary of Hector Berlioz, regarded as the inventor of the modern orchestra. He counted among the heroes of romanticism in France, together with Victor Hugo and Georges Delacroix,” said Ambassador of France to the Philippines Nicolas Galey, during the show’s opening.
The ambassador added, “It is also an important year for the Philippines as it marks the 50th anniversary of the CCP, the institutional home for the arts and a lot of classical performances. The
French Embassy is very happy to bring Berlioz and Friends to Manila, and we look forward to further developing this partnership in the promotion of cultural appreciation and exchange between our two countries.” Berlioz and Friends frames the French composer’s works written for his contemporaries, such as masterpieces like “Harold in Italy, op. 16” and “Romeo and Juliet: Love Scene,” as well as Richard Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod” and Franz Liszt’s “Les Preludes.” Harold in Italy, based on a poem by Lord Byron, is a symphony in four movements for solo viola and an orchestra. Berlioz wrote the piece in 1834 on commission from the Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini, who found the solo part too reticent.
Paganini wouldn’t hear the piece until four years later at the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire in 1834. By that time, tuberculosis of the larynx had robbed his voice, but he made his appreciation for the work clear, kneeling and kissing Berlioz’s hand after the performance.
Berlioz shared a long and sincere friendship with Hungarian composer Liszt, who transcribed “Symphonie fantastique” in 1830 into a cohesive piano version; as well as Wagner, who found inspiration in Berlioz’s works for his own compositions.