Evening star., 1954-03-07
The Best of BerIioz
Boston Orchestra to Pluy His Romeo,
Least of His Controversial Works
News of Music
By Doy Thorpe


There are few moderate
opinions about the music Of
Hector Berlioz. To most he is
either a romantic Frenchman
who wrote grandiose but es-
sentially shoddy music and the
most entertaining memoirs
ever written. or he is a genius
of orchestration and melodic
invention who is also the au-
thor of the most entertaining
memoirs ever written.
Agreement is general about
the memoirs; elsewhere in the
work of the intransigent and
individualistic guitariSt and
composer, only. the third of
his four symphonies, Romeo
and Juliet, is universally ad-
mired. Even this piece is rarely
given. The performance of the
Boston Symphony Thursday
may be the first in Washing
ton-no one seems to remem-
ber another.
Although those who write
and talk about Berlioz are
thus key-cold or river-hot
about the man, his music in
fectS the average listener with
irresistible excitement. Ever
since the many tragi-comic
concerts about which the COM
poser wrote. a major work of
Berlioz come to performance
Is q big event. at which any.
thing whatever is bound to
happen, though no one can
predict what it will be. One
brings together q large orches-
ira, usually with extra players,
an excited amateur chorus, So
loists called upon to sing music
in q style often unfamiliar,
and an audience variously
expecting music. a circus. or
Armageddon. So, 1t is not sur
prising that the electric at
moSphere is filled with a
charge it takes little to ignite.
One of the most quoted
stories of Berlioz concerns a
performance of Romeo and
Juliet in st. Peters burg.
Among the audience" he
writes, II heard of a lady who
was a habitue of the Italian
opera, and consented to be
bored at this performance
with the most exemplary cour-
age. She could not endure to
be supposed incapable of liking
such music. On leaving her
box, she said in a tone of great
elation at having stayed to the
end, 1T is certainly a very
serious work, but quite intelli-
gible. In that grand orchestral
effect In the introduction I
recognized at once that Romeo
was arriving in his cabriolet!'"
Toscanini gave three per-
formances of Romeo in New
York in the middle 1930s.
Jennie Tourel made her Amer
ican debut at these concerts.
Usually. however, the public
hears Berlioz' greatest SYM
phony cut to its purely instru-
mental parts-the scherzo of
Queen Nab. the ball of the
Capulets and the love scene.
In this scene the composer
adopts a unique musical de-
vice. Although both Romeo
and Juliet are available as
flesh and blood singers. the
entire scene is for orchestra
alone.
Menotti on List
The Philadelphia Orchestra
asserts that each of the four
pieces on its program Tuesday
will be played in Washington
for the first time. It is as
tonishing that the Mendels-
sohn G minor concerto is new
here. In the 10Th century
it was one of the most
popular of all concertos. Ber-
1ioz tells how at competition
for pianists at the Conserva-
toire in Paris. after 81 aspir-
ants for the prize had played
the Mendelssohn G minor, the
piano kept on playing the piece
although there was no one at
the keyboard. No way to si-
lence the instrument was
found until the janitor
chopped it up for fuel in the
furnace.
The Menotti concerto is GER
tainly new. It will be pleas
ant to have a temporary
change from. that modern
classic" "Amahl and the
Night Visitors" AS for Lam
DIRE and Yardumian, the two
unknown composers repre-
sented, their advance publicity
Is silent even about their first
names. The former is said to
be a Dutch composer con-
sidered by the conductor Van
Beinum to be the best in Hol-.
land; the latter is represented
as a Philadelphian in his early