Far ahead of his time, Hector Berlioz revolutionized European music in the 19th century by breaking with classicism. The author of The Damnation of Faust, an eminent representative of the Romantic movement, was also a renowned writer whose birthplace, in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, is open to the public.
Although recognized during his lifetime as a master of orchestration and an innovative conductor, Berlioz was plagued by financial problems throughout his life, and it is only posthumously, more than a century after his death, that his work has truly entered the pantheon of music history. The man who should have been a doctor like his father not only innovated in composition, but also founded the modern orchestra and the French melody, which still inspires all musicians today.
To finance his work, Franz Liszt's friend was also a pioneer in the creation of festivals and the setting up of gigantic concerts.Tenacious both professionally and personally, it was only after a fifth attempt that he won the Prix de Rome in 1830, and for years he courted his eventual wife, the actress Harriet Smithson.
An avid lover, Berlioz was also a great romantic in his art, Théophile Gautier including him, with Victor Hugo and Eugène Delacroix, in "the trinity of romantic art". His great masters were in fact 2 major sources of this intellectual and artistic movement, Shakespeare and Goethe. Like them, Berlioz wrote (novels, reviews, journalistic articles...) because his sole activity as a composer did not allow him to live but, fortunately, this passionate man was decorated with the Legion of Honor a few years before his death in 1869.
Completely rehabilitated for the bicentenary of the composer's birth in 2003, the Hector Berlioz Museum was created in 1935 in the house where he lived the first 18 years of his life. Located in Isère, in the small town of Côte Saint-André, this site witnessed his early vocation (he composed at the age of 12) and preserves several traces of his life such as the painted decorations of his childhood bedroom and numerous documents acquired during his life (correspondence, scores, diplomas, honorary medals, objects and furniture...).
Organized by theme (his era, the Romantic movement, some important episodes in his life...), the museum also invites visitors to immerse themselves in the musician's work through the auditorium and its "jukebox" where they can listen to some of his compositions conducted by the greatest contemporary conductors.
In the summer, concerts take place in the garden and, all year round, temporary exhibitions, guided tours, screenings and musical performances are also offered. Whether for these events or to discover the salon where Hector Berlioz's first notes resounded (his Erard piano is still there), there are many good reasons to visit this place. To schedule your coming, go here.
Valérie from Comme des Français
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