Synopsis

These days, no one is surprised if a popular film generates a series of sequels or even prequels, but back in the 1830s the idea of a composer coming up with a sequel to a symphony must have seemed a little odd. But that odd idea did pop into the head of French composer Hector Berlioz.

In 1830, Berlioz had a huge hit with his Symphonie Fantastique. That Fantastic Symphony told a story through music, based on the composer’s own real-life, unrequited love for a British Shakespearian actress. The story ends badly, with our hero trying to end it all with a dose of opium, which, while not killing him, does produce, well, “fantastic” nightmares in which he is condemned to death for killing his beloved who reappears at a grotesque witches’ sabbath.

That seems a hard act to follow, but two years later, Berlioz produced a musical sequel: Lelio, or the Return to Life, which premiered in Paris on today’s date in 1832. In this, our hero awakes from his drug-induced nightmare, and, with a little help from Shakespeare and a kind of 10-step arts-based recovery program, rededicates his life to music.

Berlioz intended the original and the sequel to be performed together as a kind of double-feature. Alas, while audiences thrill to the lurid Symphonie Fantastique, they tend to drift during the admirable, but rather boring rehab sequel, which is rarely performed.

Music Played in Today's Program

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): Fantasy on Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ from Lelio London Symphony; Pierre Boulez, conductor; Sony 64103