Guest conductor Pedro Halffter makes his debut with The Florida Orchestra this weekend in three performances of Manuel de Falla's La Vida Breve: Interlude and Dance, Heitor Villa-Lobos' Fuitar Concerto (both with guest guitarist Jason Vieaux) and the highlight, Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Berlioz, the love-struck and opium-inspired composer, helped usher in the Romantic era and influenced such giants as Frederic Chopin, Franz Liszt and Nicolo Paganini. Leonard Bernstein once said that the Fantastic Symphony was the first psychedelic musical trip thanks to the last two movements — "March to the Scaffold" and "Dream of the Witches' Sabbath." Written in 1830, the semi-autobiographical masterpiece also helped introduce the idée fixe — a recurring musical theme haunting the piece's main character through all five movements. Program music as we know it would be virtually nonexistent without the bleeding heart of Berlioz. In other words, this is groundbreaking stuff.
Symphonie Fantastique, Fri., March 28, 8 p.m., Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa; Sat., March 29, 8 p.m., Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg; and Sun., March 30, 7:30 p.m., Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. Tickets are $19-$54; visit floridaorchestra.org for more info.
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2008.