On March 8, 9 and 10, the Houston Symphony presents a delectable all-French program featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and Debussy’s La mer. Berlioz’ spirited Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict opens the concerts. In this post, discover how Shakespeare inspired Berlioz’ final operatic masterpiece. Get tickets and more information here.
The Gospel saying that “No prophet is accepted in his own country” was certainly true of Hector Berlioz. Though his unique and innovative music was championed in Germany, France never fully recognized him in his own lifetime. Béatrice et Bénédict, his final completed work, would be premiered not in Paris, but in Baden. Composed between 1860 and 1862, this comic opera dates from a difficult period in the composer’s life, but despite his disappointments and increasing ill-health, the work is one of his lightest, most delightful creations.
The opera’s plot is a simplified version of Much Ado about Nothing by Shakespeare, one of Berlioz’ chief sources of inspiration. Beatrice and Benedict cannot stand each other, so on a lark their friends and families decide to get them together through a series of deceptions (the basic outline of the romantic comedy has changed little in 400 years).
The overture brims with life and comedic touches. It begins with music taken from the opera’s ending in which Beatrice and Benedict get married, singing “Love is a torch…Love is a flame… […] today the truce is signed; we will become enemies again tomorrow!” The fast triplets of the opening theme illustrate these flames of love:
Just as the overture seems to get going, it stops; the music slows and it becomes clear that the opening was merely the introduction to the introduction. After a yearning string melody, the fiery music resumes as the main body of the overture begins in earnest. Brassy fanfares lead to a more lyrical theme as the “flames of love” recede into the background of the orchestral texture. Like many opera overtures, this one eschews an extended development and moves directly into a reprise of the main themes (although Berlioz does introduce some daring harmonies into the transition between them). The overture ends with orchestral laughter, preparing the way for the Shakespearean comedy that follows. —Calvin Dotsey
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Don’t miss Berlioz’ Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict March 8, 9 and 10, 2019! Get tickets and more information at houstonsymphony.org
