Berlioz remembered / Michael Rose.

Author/creator Rose, Michael, 1926-
Format Book
Publication InfoLondon ; New York : Faber, 2001.
Descriptionxxxix, 310 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 22 cm.
Subjects

SeriesComposers remembered
Composers remembered. ^A498394
Contents Berlioz remembered -- Childhood -- A student in Paris -- Shakespeare, Beethoven and Harriet Smithson -- Symphonie fantastique -- Rome -- Return to Paris -- Berlioz at thirty -- The Requiem and Benvenuto Cellini -- Romeo et Juliette and the Symphonie funebre -- The critic among critics -- The composer among critics -- Berlioz as conductor -- Harriet and Marie -- First concert tours: Germany and Russia -- London -- Paris and London, the interim years -- Cellini revisited -- Germany: the second phase -- Friends in Paris -- The last visit to London -- Pauline Viardot and Les Troyens -- Wagner in Paris -- After Marie's death -- Les Troyens a Carthage -- Life after Carthage -- Estelle - and Louis -- The final journey -- The last year.
Abstract The concentration of artistic talent in Paris in the first half of the nineteenth century was one of the phenomena of European cultural history: at its centre was Berlioz, the archetypal Romantic, misunderstood, unrecognised and ridiculed in his lifetime and now generally accepted as the greatest French composer of the 19th century. His dynamic, often extravagant public image, combined with a sharp critical intelligence and a mischievous sense of humour, did not always endear him to his more conventional colleagues, but there was an engaging, naive, sometimes almost timid private side to this insatiable seeker of musical truth that brought him many loyal though sometimes long-suffering friends. Berlioz's own memoirs have become a classic of musical literature, but they are inevitably self-regarding. This book presents the other side of the picture - the effect he produced on other people, whether friends or enemies, supporters, critics, or just plain observers - and in bringing together a series of impressions that can sometimes be as trenchant as his own, provides a revealing complement to them. His successes in Germany, Russia and England add variety to what is essentially a Parisian story, and now that Berlioz has at last been internationally accepted as an established figure in the musical firmament, the insights assembled here will provoke fascinating second thoughts about a character still too often thought of as flamboyant, self-advertising or lacking in depth.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0571178634

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Music Stacks ML410.B5 R64 2001 ✔ Available Place Hold