Mendelssohn / Berlioz, O. Caetani
The illustrious Italian conductor Oleg Caetani leads the orchestra of the Fondazione Arena di Verona in a performance of two stunning works, one by Felix Mendelssohn, the other by Hector Berlioz. Verona's Teatro Filarmonico is a prestigious venue, suited to a rendition of Mendelssohn's highly regarded Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, MWV O 14, which opens the programme. The concert is completed by a rendition of Berlioz's famous Symphonie fantastique: Episode in the Life of an Artist… in Five Sections, Op. 14.
Composed over the course of several years from 1838, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor was conceived as a work for the composer's friend Ferdinand David, who served as concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. David, with whom the composer sought advice during the work's orchestration, played the violin at the concerto's premiere in Leipzig on 13 March 1845, shortly before its publication. Mendelssohn was unable to conduct at the piece's first performance, but he managed to do so later that year, with David performing the role of solo violinist once again. Arranged in the standard, three-movement format typical for concerti of its day, only the opening movement is in E minor. The pace drops in the second movement, which is in C major, before the concerto picks up tempo once more for the finale, composed primarily in E major with only a short introductory passage in the piece's minor home key.
Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique is a semi-autobiographical Romantic symphonic work. Indeed, the French composer included some programme notes for the symphony which suggest something of the heartache and emotional ordeals that he had been going through at the time of its composition. Structured in five movements, the symphony is an early example of programme music, a compositional style that conveys an overall narrative. The five sections or movements tell the story of a young man who has suffered from unrequited love, perhaps reflecting the composer's real-life attraction to the Irish actress, Harriet Smithson. This ardent feeling is symbolised throughout the symphony innovatively by a recurring theme, which Berlioz referred to as an idée fixe, something of a forerunner of Wagner's later use of leitmotif.
Oleg Caetani is widely recognised for his exceptional work in both the symphonic and operatic repertoires. In the past, he has served as the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Principal Conductor for the Staatskapelle Weimar, among numerous other prestigious roles around the world. This concert of two great Romantic-era pieces at the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona provides a superb opportunity to see the maestro in action.