BERLIOZ, Hector (1803-1869) - photo 1
BERLIOZ, Hector (1803-1869) - photo 2
BERLIOZ, Hector (1803-1869) - photo 3

BERLIOZ, Hector (1803-1869)

Lot 75
14.12.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 756
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 870758
Lot 75 | BERLIOZ, Hector (1803-1869)
Estimate value
£ 1 200 – 1 800
BERLIOZ, Hector (1803-1869)

Autograph letter signed ('Hector Berlioz') to Humbert Ferrand, [Paris], 19 March 1834.

In French. Three pages, 205 x 127mm, bifolium, integral address panel to Ferrand at Bellay. Provenance: with Lion Heart Autographs, 2014.



'Have you no suggestion for a grand opera? Nothing?': on his own indefatigable work on Harold en Italie, and lacerating criticism of a production of Don Giovanni at the Paris Opéra. If Berlioz has not written to Ferrand recently it is not through laziness but an excess of work: 'The day before yesterday I wrote for thirteen hours without setting down my pen. I have nearly finished the symphony with viola obbligato which Paganini asked me for. I was planning to do it in only two parts, but a third and then a fourth came to me. Still, I hope that I'll stop there. I still have a good month of steady work left'. Ferrand has evidently asked for fresh musical news from Paris, but Berlioz protests that he has put almost everything in his regular Sunday column in the Rénovateur. Still, he encourages Ferrand to write about the recent production of Don Giovanni at the Opéra, 'but say, what my position did not allow me to admit, that all the actors without exception and Nourrit in particular are a thousand leagues beneath their roles. Levasseur too heavy and too serious, Mlle Falcon too cold, Mme Damoreau cold and hopeless as an actress and unbearable for her silly grace notes; in general ... all lacks warmth and movement ... Say something about the absurdity of the management which cannot give us a new work capable of interesting art-lovers ... Speak of the unbelievable quartet of the four Muller brothers who play Beethoven in a way which was previously unknown to us. / The Symphonie [Fantastique] arranged by Liszt as not yet appeared. I will send it to you together with Le paysan Breton as soon as it is printed ... Have you no suggestion for a grand opera? Nothing?'.



Paganini had commissioned Berlioz's second symphony (Harold en Italie) in order to provide himself with an opportunity to show off his Stradivarius viola (the Paganini-Mendelssohn). Paganini initially declined to perform the work, feeling that the viola part was insufficiently prominent, before declaring his enthusiasm for it when first hearing it four years later. Berlioz's Le jeune pâtre breton (here referred to by its early title, 'Le jeune paysan breton') was first performed in its orchestral version on 23 November 1834 by Cornélie Falcon (1814-1897), the soprano whose performance he criticises in the present letter. Franz Liszt had been present at the hugely successful premiere of Symphonie Fantastique in December 1830, and his transcription of the work for piano was to be a major element in spreading its popularity. Humbert Ferrand (1805-1868) was one of Berlioz's closest friends, and had written the libretto for his early opera Les francs-juges. Correspondance générale no.384.





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10.12.2022 – 13.12.2022
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