The incredible power of love will be expressed musically in Orchestra Hall as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performs Berlioz's Romantic classic Symphonie Fantastique with celebrated conductor Charles Dutoit. The performances also feature Berlioz's Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict and Ravel's grand Piano Concerto in D minor (Left Hand Alone) with soloist Jean-Philippe Collard.
The concerts take place in Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center on Thursday, January 24 at 8 p.m.; Friday, January 25 at 10:45 a.m. and 8 p.m.; and Saturday, January 26 at 8:30 p.m.
Swiss-born Charles Dutoit is one of the foremost conductors in the world, well-known for his interpretations of French, Russian and 20th century music. He graduated from the Geneva Conservatory in 1958 where he won first prize in conducting. Dutoit's professional career started in 1957 when he performed as a violist in Europe and South America. In 1959, he was a guest conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. In 1977, he obtained the major appointment of his career: Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 2002. He has made influential modern recordings of Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette and Ravel's ballets Daphnis et Chloe and Ma Mere l'Oye.
French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard's repertoire goes well beyond his native country to include works by such notable composers as Bartók, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. He started playing the piano at the age of 5 and at age 16 he won First Prize at the Paris Conservatory of Music, the first of many accolades in his career. He has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. In s003, he was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in France.
Hector Berlioz's roots as a Romantic can be traced to 1827 when he first saw performances of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Though the French composer did not understand the English spoken by the actors, the bard's words had a lasting impact on his music. Based loosely on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, the comic opera Béatrice et Bénédict features two characters who despise each other and the institution of marriage, but are tricked by their friends into admitting their love for each other. The Overture performed by the DSO quotes several themes from the opera and reflects its bright setting, fast-paces and humorous action.
Maurice Ravel's Concerto in D minor (Left Hand Alone) was commissioned by Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm during World War I. It was premiered by Wittgenstein in 1933 with the Paris Symphony Orchestra and conducted by the composer himself. Ravel found the challenge of writing for one hand stimulating. He said at the premiere: "The fear of difficulty, however, is never as keen as the pleasure of overcoming it." The concerto is a single movement and features a grand and serious tone with jazz influences throughout the piece.
Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique is not only one of the most popular and significant Romantic compositions, but it is also had a powerful influence on the attraction between the composer and actress Harriet Smithson. After seeing her perform as Ophelia in Hamlet, Berlioz sought a musical outlet for his passion. Composed and premiered in 1830, Symphonie Fantastique features five movements as a series of dream-like episodes in the life of an artist. Berlioz's musical inspiration for this composition was Beethoven. He used the famed composer's symphonic models and stretched and distorted these traditional forms and added vivid effects drawn from opera to represent the artist's obsession with his beloved. Symphonie Fantastique impressed Smithson greatly when she heard it in 1832. The couple, despite the fact she spoke no French and he spoke no English, were married a year later. However, their love did not last as they divorced several years later. -- www.detroitsymphony.com
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