Sentimental Work: Fabio Biondi on Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette

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I first came across Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette around 20 years ago. By that time I had begun to be interested in 19th-century Italian opera; in 2001 I’d prepared a version of Bellini’s Norma for Europa Galante to perform at the Festival Verdi in Parma, and it went on from there. As a violinist I was also interested in the life of Paganini, who had an interest in opera himself; he conducted Rossini’s Matilde di Shabran in Rome and was a great friend of Berlioz. Even though he never performed Harold in Italy, the piece he’d commissioned from him, he regarded Berlioz as the successor to Beethoven and, towards his death, made him a gift of 20,000 francs, which gave Berlioz the time to work on his new composition, Roméo et Juliette. This whole story made me intrigued to learn more about Berlioz, a composer I really hadn’t paid attention to before, so I listened to a recording.

It was John Eliot Gardiner’s 1995 recording with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir. I was astonished by it: it gave me a completely new outlook on Romantic music in general, and I realised for the first time that Berlioz, like Paganini, was really an unconventional composer. He brought a real sense of Shakespearean drama to the piece, which I felt was lacking in other adaptations such as Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. The music is full of complexity and yet the language and harmonies are very pure; I think Berlioz was one of the best composers in terms of orchestration, and the colours he achieves from the instrumentation, especially the use of brass, are extraordinary. I fell completely in love with the piece and for months I listened to it almost constantly. I still consider it one of the key masterpieces of Romanticism.

What still strikes me is that Berlioz realised Shakespeare’s play was so uniquely special that it could not be adapted into an opera, nor a symphonic poem, nor a cantata. He had to create almost a new genre, ‘choral symphony’, to express the depth of emotion he wanted to convey. It was very daring, especially with such a large orchestra and choir, but it really shows his conviction in his ideas, as well as his creative genius.

The opening grabs the listener immediately. For me, the first six pages of the score encapsulate the whole human experience. It also feels extremely natural, empathetic and unbelievably beautiful. The first entry of the choir, like an idea floating on the air, followed by the explosion of the principal theme on the viola, are all mesmerising moments – and Berlioz’s orchestration is unbelievably profound.

I’ve thought about performing Roméo et Juliette many times, but I’ve never found a way to make it work. Listening to it, it’s tempting to think that it could easily be staged in such a way that the audience could understand, but then you realise the complexity of the piece means it has to remain a choral symphony. So, for me the symphony is both exciting and frustrating. At some point I hope to be able to conduct it.

One thing the experience of Roméo et Juliette taught me is that it’s important to be always curious and investigate all of a composer’s oeuvre, not just the parts you might think you’re interested in. I might never have come across this seminal work of Romanticism, but having discovered it, I found it transformed my whole understanding of the movement. My message to students would be to follow every new line of discovery, explore outside your comfort zone and find new ways to be inspired by the music you’re listening to and playing.

INTERVIEW BY CHRISTIAN LLOYD

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