Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17 (Romeo and Juliet)

The works of William Shakespeare have inspired numerous composers but the effect on Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) was deep and life-long – he even married the actress, Harriet Smithson, whose performances as Ophelia (Hamlet) and then, with even greater impact, as Juliet, had kindled this passion. Berlioz did not, like his later compatriot, Gounod, create an opera but what he described as a “Dramatic Symphony” – the play’s central love scene has no voices it is left to the orchestra to give a emotionally highly charged description.

Of the three soloists it is only the bass soloist who is given a specific role in the work, that of Friar Laurence; the other two merely describe the feelings of the two lovers. With a chorus adding considerable colour he created a work which had commentators like Dumas ecstatic in their enthusiasm for it. Riccardo Muti with his Philadelphia Orchestra and soloists – Jessye Norman, John Aler and Simon Estes clearly revel in the remarkable orchestration and colour that the composer demands. Berlioz, however, was not exclusively dramatic or spectacular in his compositions as the beautiful selection of songs Les Nuits d’été show. Originally written with piano accompaniment in 1840/1 he orchestrated them fifteen years later. They explore different aspects of romantic love they are as beautiful as anything he wrote. The classic recording with Dame Janet Baker and Sir John Barbirolli complete this valuable set.

In the autumn of 1827, Hector Berlioz witnessed a performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (with Harriet Smithson in the role of Juliet). The composer later wrote of this experience: “I will marry this woman and base my greatest symphony on this drama”. Berlioz kept his word (on both counts), but the resulting “symphony” baffled contemporary audiences. Even today, Berlioz's hybrid operatic-symphony has failed to find a lasting place in the repertoire, owing primarily to the impracticalities of its performance. All the more a pity, since in the hands of gifted operatic maestro, Sylvain Camberling, Romeo et Juliette lives up to its promise as Berlioz's GREATEST score.