The Musical Voyager: Berlioz in Europe

This collection of essays has been written by thirteen scholars, from five countries. It focuses on the musical activities of Hector Berlioz, viewed as a European phenomenon. The first part of the book discusses Berlioz’s journeys to Breslau (1846), to Moscow and St Petersburg (1847 and 1867-68), and to London (especially in 1847 and 1853). In particular, the reception of Berlioz’s music is placed under scrutiny. The second part of the book starts with a new history of the recitatives that Berlioz wrote for Weber’s Der Freischutz, as they were used in Paris (1841, 1850), Berlin (1849), London (1850) and Milan (1872). Five essays then discuss different kinds of influence wrought by European literature on Berlioz, including Shakespeare’s Othello and Goethe’s Faust. The book’s final section (source materials) contains the first complete anthology of London press reviews of Benvenuto Cellini in 1853; and new translations of three Russian articles on Berlioz by Vladimir Odoyevsky, from 1841 and 1847.