Hector Berlioz

Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!

During World War II, two French civilians and a downed British Bomber Crew set out from Paris to cross the demarcation line between Nazi-occupied Northern France and the South. From there they will be able to escape to England. First, they must avoid German troops – and the consequences of their own blunders.

Benvenuto Cellini

The Florentine sculptor and silversmith Benvenuto Cellini rapidly attained a degree of renown that went beyond the confines of Italy. Invariably embroiled in conspiracies, intrigues and quarrels, Cellini is commissioned by the Pope to cast a large sculpture of Perseus. He is loved by Teresa, but she is promised to Fieramosca, an academic artist who has not been favoured with a papal commission. Terry Gilliam’s exuberant production draws the protagonists into a delirious and joyful yet claustrophobic and megalomaniac world: a flaring up of contagious madness.

Orphée et Eurydice

Live from Munich, October 2003. A husband laments the death of his wife. He follows her to the underworld and finds her there. But he is forbidden to look at her. He does it anyway! Has he now lost her forever? Or will the gods' hearts be moved by this loving, "human" glance? In 1762, Gluck put the quietus on the artificiality of baroque opera with this work - from then on the human element took center stage.

Les Troyens

Alexandre Tarta's production of Berlioz's opera, recorded live at the Salzburg Festival in 2000. Sylvain Cambreling conducts, with performances by Jon Villars, Russell Braun and Tigran Martirossian.

Gluck: Orpheus & Eurydice @ Halle 47, Floirac

Opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, Hector Berlioz's version (1859)

Les Troyens

This grand opera, complete with ensembles and ballets, large choruses and orchestral set pieces, is given an appropriately grand treatment in this production by the renowned Catalan theater group "La Fura dels Baus" recorded at Valencia's Palau de les Arts. In the first part of the work, Padrissa plays with the present-day meaning of "Trojans" as computer viruses: his Trojan horse carries within it the infection that will cause system failures and, ultimately, destruction. In the second part, Carthage is presented as the mysterious seat of a future civilization, where human life is heading towards self-destruction through environmental disasters.

Berlioz: Les Troyens

This epic opera follows Virgil, beginning as the Greeks appear to have ceded the field after ten years of the Trojan War. Cassandra tries to warn of the terrible fate to come, but fate is set and Troy falls. The first two acts cover this tragic end, then the flight of survivors to Carthage and events at Carthage continue in acts 3 - 5, culminating in the further voyage for Italy and Rome. This is Virgil's classic epic, in operatic form, in about a three and a half hour performance from French Opera.

The Mysterians

In Japan, scientifically advanced invaders from the war-destroyed planet Mysteroid cause an entire village to vanish, then send a giant robot out to storm the city by night, after which they request a small patch of land on Earth and the right to marry earthling women, claiming to be pacifists. Mankind must decide whether to capitulate or to resist.

Berlioz: Les Troyens

Berlioz’s colossal masterpiece requires stupendous forces—dozens of soloists, enormous chorus, orchestra and ballet, a superb conductor who understands the uniqueness of the score—plus a production that does visual justice to the work. “A stupendous achievement” was one critic’s assessment of Peter Wexler’s inventive production. And with James Levine’s wizardry galvanizing the marvelous all-star cast, this is truly a gem. Plácido Domingo is the legendary hero Aeneas, Jessye Norman the obsessed prophetess Cassandra, and Tatiana Troyanos is Queen Dido, who commits suicide when Aeneas leaves her.

Casta Diva

In a series of long held shots, men are observed performing simple tasks in real time, while on the soundtrack we hear excerpts from opera.

Grand Bal Symphonique With the Orchestre Nationale de France

The French National Orchestra, conducted by musical director Cristian Macelaru, performs French repertoire from Berlioz to Offenbach in a festive concert.

Berlioz : La damnation de Faust

In the sumptuous Art Deco setting of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Orchestre national de France performs one of the masterpieces of French Romanticism with a stellar vocal cast: Stéphanie d'Oustrac, John Irvin, Paul Gay, and Frédéric Caton.

Scottish National Youth Orchestra @ Young Euro Classic 2025

The Scottish National Youth Orchestra performs Jay Capperauld's accordion concerto. In this new work, the Glasgow composer imposes spectacular and acrobatic figures on the ‘piano with braces’. In the second half, the audience is treated to Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, featuring an ‘episode in the life of an artist’. Accordionist Ryan Corbett plays the solo part alongside the Scottish musicians and their conductor Catherine Larsen-Maguire.

Gluck - Orphée et Eurydice

Amour, the messenger of the gods, tells Orpheus that he may descend to the underworld and return with Eurydice. His singing has the power to appease the Furies and animate the blessed Shadows. Yet, his voice cannot reassure Eurydice who despairs of the feigned indifference of Orpheus, put to the test by Jupiter. Raphaël Pichon conducts the opera of operas and Aurélien Bory displays the giddiness of the mental and supernatural spaces traveled by Orpheus and beyond. Marianne Crebassa plays a new breeches role with Hélène Guilmette (Hélène in Le Timbre d’argent) and Lea Desandre (the title role in Alcione).

Berlioz: Les Troyens

After a siege of ten years, the Greeks leave Troy. A giant wooden horse has been left on the beach. Despite Cassandra's dark premonitions, the offering is borne into the city...Pierre Audi directs Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek and American tenor Bryan Hymel in this epic Berlioz's opera, that requires an omnipresent chorus, a huge orchestra and a great virtuosity from the solists.

Anima - Symphonie Fantastique

A young man, the soldier and bachelor type, is looking for Anima - the eternal unattainable female who alternately appears as a virgin, harlot, mother, saint but also as a witch. In his illusions and visions made up of images which are multi-layered and ambiguous, Anima changes from a romantic ideal to a technically two dimensional duplicate which can be reproduced and is half woman, half sewing machine.

Orpheus and Eurydice

Romeo Castellucci's production of Christoph Willibald Gluck's mythic opera. Concurrently via projected text, we learn the story of Els, a bedridden woman with locked-in syndrome, conscious but near-completely paralyzed. A live video feed from the hospital shows Els listening to the music along with the audience.

Concerto per il nuovo anno (Honeck)

From the Auditorium Parco della Musica, the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia performs music by J. Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Weber, Berlioz, Ponchielli, and Offenbach.

Berlioz: Les Troyens

Berlioz’s epic masterpiece retells the magnificent saga of the aftermath of the Trojan War and the exploits of Aeneas. Rising tenor Bryan Hymel, in his Met debut, stars as the hero charged by the gods with the founding of the city of Rome. Susan Graham is Dido, Queen of Carthage, who becomes Aeneas’s lover, and Deborah Voigt sings Cassandra, the Trojan princess whose warnings about the impending destruction of Troy go unheeded. Francesca Zambello’s atmospheric production, featuring choreography by Doug Varone, is led by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi.

The Ride to the Abyss

‘La course à l’abîme’ is a depiction of the final ride into hell from ‘La Damnation de Faust’ (1846) by Hector Berlioz.

Hélène Grimaud, 11 September 2001 Great moments in music

Hélène Grimaud's eagerly awaited debut at the BBC Proms was scheduled for 11 September 2001. Until the last moment, the organisers hesitated to go ahead with the performance, such was the shock following the collapse of the World Trade Centre. But London's Royal Albert Hall did go ahead with the concert, in which the soloist gave a masterful performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. Programme: Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58, by Ludwig van BeethovenSymphonie fantastique, by Hector Berlioz Concert filmed on 11 September 2001 at the Royal Albert Hall (London) during the BBC Proms.

La Symphonie fantastique

The film is biographical, telling the story of the life and artistic struggles of the French composer Hector Berlioz. Berlioz is shown as a recalcitrant medical student in an anatomy class dreaming of becoming a composer; at a demonstration during a performance at the Paris Opéra conducted by Habeneck; at supper with other young artists (Hugo, Janin, Dumas, Mérimée, Delacroix); and chasing after his future wife Harriet Smithson, after a performance of Hamlet. Also depicted are his life in a garret, while suffering from an illness due to an abscess in the throat; a visit from his mother who curses him; and the composition of the Symphonie fantastique. The film then shows his marital breakdown, the premiere of his opera Benvenuto Cellini, his travels throughout Europe, his second marriage to Marie Recio (called "Marie Martin" in the film), public acceptance in old age and reconciliation with his son.

Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust

Radiant mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and dashing Italian tenor Marcello Giordani are unlucky lovers in La Damnation de Faust, Hector Berlioz’s classic take on dancing with the devil.

Belated Flowers

Princess Mariya fell in love with doctor Toporkov, who was treating her, in the recent past the serf of her family. Now he has become a celebrity and is only concerned about buying a new home profitably. He does not notice her love and marries a rich merchant. The princess in love comes to see Toporkov and opens to him. Her strong feeling touches Toporkov’s hardened heart, he leaves his wife and leaves the princess abroad.