Belgian National Orchestra & Schonwandt

About the Event

With his “Symphonie fantastique,” Hector Berlioz created a work that was far ahead of its time. It is less an abstract symphony than a musical vision. Berlioz tells the story of an artist—unmistakably his own alter ego—who encounters an idealized lover and subsequently slips into a series of increasingly feverish dreams. What begins with longing and ecstasy degenerates into obsession, drifts into hallucinations, and culminates in a frenzied witches’ sabbath. Through unprecedented orchestration—featuring no fewer than four harps! – and vivid contrasts in timbre and drama, Berlioz transforms the symphony into an opera for orchestra, in which every emotion and every twist of the story is conveyed without a single word. An adventurous “Symphonic Date” to be discovered together with Thomas Vanderveken, who will guide you through this fantastic symphony with humor and flair.