Archived event
Featuring
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Jaime Martín conductor
Christopher Moore viola
Program
Berlioz Harold in Italy
Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony
About this performance
The prose of Lord Byron provides the artistic inspiration behind two large-scale symphonic poems by Berlioz and Tchaikovsky. MSO Principal Viola Christopher Moore assumes the instrumental role of Harold, a character who wanders through a tableau of Berlioz’s creation.
- After the success of his startling Symphonie Fantastique, Berlioz was approached by the virtuoso violinist Paganini. Having recently acquired a Stradivarius viola, Paganini was looking for repertoire for the instrument. Harold in Italy was the result – a symphonic poem inspired by Lord Byron’s Childe Harold and Berlioz’s own travels in Italy.
- Fifty years later, a composer suggested to Tchaikovsky that he write a symphonic work based on another of Byron’s poems, Manfred. Tchaikovsky became absorbed in the work during a trip to the Swiss Alps, dividing the work into four scenes with rich orchestral colour and dramatic nuance.
Duration: approx. 125 minutes including interval
