Among his peers — and well into the 20th century — there were those who thought Hector Berlioz was a madman. His Symphonie Fantastique, a musical depiction of an opium-driven suicide attempt, did little to ameliorate this.
Conductor Charles Munch was a champion of Berlioz’s music, and his recording of the Symphonie Fantastique, made in 1954, remains one of the most hignly regarded readings of that work to this day. We’ll hear it (and some other historic recordings as well) on this Sunday’s program.
Sunday, January 15th at 6:00 p.m WFIT 89.5 FM and streaming at WFIT.org.