Rafael Payare

Magdalene Ho

RCM Symphony Orchestra

Royal College of Music

'Irresistible zest, controlled impetuosity, dreamy sensibility and a nostalgic expression' – Berlioz on performing his own music

Rafael Payare is at the helm for what is sure to be a spellbinding RCM Symphony Orchestra concert, featuring Berlioz’ dramatic and passionate Symphonie fantastique as well as Carlos Simon's piece inspired by an entry in Beethoven’s journal, 'Fate Now Conquers', and Beethoven's First Piano Concerto performed by Magdalene Ho.

Berlioz was a Romantic through and through, and the young man at the heart of the Symphonie fantastique’s story might have been the composer himself, his obsessive nature represented by a recurring motif or ‘ideé fixe’. In the opening ‘Reveries, Passions’, Berlioz conjures up what he called ‘volcanic love’, followed by a waltzing ball scene and pastoral interlude. Then come the sinister ‘March to the Scaffold’ and nightmarish ‘Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath’, reflecting what Berlioz described as the key elements of his style: ‘passionate expression, inner warmth, rhythmic impetus and unexpectedness’.

RCM Symphony Orchestra: Symphonie fantastique