Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique

Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique

Conductor Leonard Bernstein called Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique "the first psychedelic symphony in history, the first musical description of an opium trip." He has a point: this music takes the listener into the composer's musing inner world, but also to a lush ball and a 'dream of a witches' sabbath'. The symphony is revolutionary and innovative: it is the first 'programme music' - music with a story and it was the first music with an idée fixe, the precursor to Wagner's Leitmotiv. In a visual and beautiful romantic style we hear how a young composer falls in love with a beautiful woman. After an exuberant party he loses himself in opium, whereupon hallucinatory scenes full of witches, devil dances and death knells follow.

Pablo Heras-Casado

Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado has an unusually varied career: before he broke through as one of the great conducting talents of his generation, he worked as an actor and composer for contemporary dance groups. As a conductor, he also has a very broad perspective: he is a seasoned conductor in the large symphonic and operatic repertoire but also in historically informed performances and contemporary scores. That he is very successful in this is evident from the prizes he has in his cabinet: the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, two Diapasons d'Or, and a Latin Grammy But above all, his exceptional talent is demonstrated by the long-standing relationships he maintains with prestigious orchestras and festivals, including the Verbier Festival, BBC Proms and Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.