Search the archives
Download the House Programme
Listen
Caliban’s Cave | Walter Hall, Toronto
Caliban’s Cave | Walter Hall, Toronto
The songs of Hector Berlioz (1803-69)
date: January 25, 2004
Just a few weeks late to celebrate his 200th anniversary, we presented an afternoon of the songs of one of the 19th century’s most significant composers. The framework was, naturally enough, the Nuits d’été, very familiar in their orchestral guise which dates from the early 1850s. It is less well known, however, that this cycle was first written in 1840 with piano accompaniment. Then it had been Berlioz’s intention to show his abilities to create on a small scale, quite apart from the big orchestral and choral works which were establishing his reputation. In fact, his friend Joseph d’Ortigue wrote in 1852: “I prefer the simplicity of the initial inspiration to the embellishment, though fully genuine, of the second version.” Along with the song-cycle, we included several of Berlioz’s other songs and duets which, in contrast, are virtually unknown, plus a ravishing duet from his opera Béatrice et Bénédict. Between the musical items, we read extracts from the composer’s vivid and absorbing Memoirs.
| Song | Artist | Composer | Poet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Villanelle, Op.7/1 (Nuits d’été) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Gautier, Théophile |
| Le Trébuchet, Op.13/3 (Fleurs des landes) | Brown, Donna, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Bertin, Antoine de / Deschamps, Emile |
| Un Bal (Symphonie fantastique, Op.14) | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Berlioz, Hector, arr. Singer, Otto | n/a |
| Le Spectre de la rose, Op.7/2 (Nuits d’été) | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Gautier, Théophile |
| Zaïde: Bolero, Op.19/1 (Feuilles d’album) | Brown, Donna, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Beauvoir, Roger de |
| Adieu, Bessy, Op.2/8 (Irlande) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Moore, Thomas, trans. Gounet, Thomas |
| La Mort d’Ophélie, Op.18/2 | Brown, Donna, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Shakespeare, William, trans. Legouvé, Ernest |
| Sur les lagunes: Lamento, Op.7/3 (Nuits d’été) | Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Gautier, Théophile |
| Absence, Op.7/4 (Nuits d’été) | Brown, Donna, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Gautier, Théophile |
| Sérénade de Méphistophélès, Op.1/8 | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, trans. Nerval, Gérard de |
| Nuit paisible et sereine: Duo-Nocturne (Béatrice et Bénédict) | Brown, Donna, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Berlioz, Hector |
| Au cimitière, Op.7/5 (Nuits d’été) | Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Gautier, Théophile |
| L’Ile inconnue, Op.7/6 (Nuits d’été) | Brown, Donna, soprano; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Berlioz, Hector | Gautier, Théophile |
| La Marseillaise – ENCORE | Brown, Donna, soprano; Burgess, Norine, mezzo; Butterfield, Benjamin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Rouget de Lisle, Claude Joseph, arr. Berlioz, Hector | Rouget de Lisle, Claude Joseph |