Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Prom 7: Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, ѿý SO under Joshua Weilerstein. Rebel: Le chaos (Les elemens). Dusapin: Outscape (Alisa Weilerstein: cello). Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique.

Live at the ѿý Proms: the ѿý Symphony Orchestra and conductor Joshua Weilerstein perform Rebel, Berlioz and the UK premiere of Pascal Dusapin's Outscape at this year's ѿý Proms.

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Presented by Sara Mohr-Pietsch

Jean-Féry Rebel: Le Chaos from "Les Elémens"
Pascal Dusapin: Outscape* (ѿý co-commission: UK premiere)

8.00pm INTERVAL - Proms Extra
Richard Davenport-Hines - author of 'The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Social History of Drugs' - considers how opium became a stimulus to creativity in the 19th century for writers such as Baudelaire, Apollinaire and Mallarmé and in the plot underpinning Symphonie Fantastique. He's joined by historian and Radio 3 New Generation Thinker Dr Daisy Hay, author of 'Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron and Other Tangled Lives'. The presenter is Matthew Sweet.
Recorded earlier this evening as a Proms Extra with an audience at Imperial College
Producer: Jacqueline Smith

8.20pm
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Op.14

Alisa Weilerstein (cello)*
ѿý Symphony Orchestra
Joshua Weilerstein (conductor)

Visions of chaos give way to a diabolical scene in a musical thrill-ride that takes us from creation itself to the wild dances of a Witches' Sabbath. Jean-Féry Rebel's suite The Elements is one of Baroque music's most unusual works, opening with a vivid portrait of Chaos. The same audacity surfaces a century later in Berlioz's quasi-autobiographical Symphonie fantastique, whose large orchestral forces and colourful textures make it a perfect fit for the Royal Albert Hall.

Star cellist Alisa Weilerstein is soloist for the UK premiere of Pascal Dusapin's nature-inspired concerto Outscape - a work written for her - while her brother, rising young star Joshua Weilerstein, conducts.

2 hours, 30 minutes

Music and featured items

  • Part 1

    Duration: 49:56

  • Jean‐Féry Rebel

    Chaos (from Les Élémens)

    Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra: Joshua Weilerstein.
  • Pascal Dusapin

    Outscape

    Performer: Alisa Weilerstein. Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Joshua Weilerstein.
  • Béla Bartók

    44 Duos No.44 Transylvanian Dance

    Performer: Alisa Weilerstein. Performer: Joshua Weilerstein.
  • Interval

    Proms Extra Intro: Richard Davenport-Hines & Daisy Hay on opium and 19-century creativity

    Duration: 20:42

  • Part 2

    Duration: 58:28

  • Hector Berlioz

    Symphonie fantastique (Proms 2017)

    Orchestra: ѿý Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Joshua Weilerstein.
  • Post-concert

    Duration: 21:41

  • Francis Poulenc

    Fiancailles pour rire (Light-hearted betrothal)

    Performer: Tom Poster. Singer: Raphaela Papadakis.

Credit

Role Contributor
Performer ѿý Symphony Orchestra

Broadcast

  • Wed 19 Jul 2017 19:30

Featured in...

The home of classical music and the Proms on the ѿý

Every Proms concert is broadcast live on Radio 3 - don't miss a single one.