A journey through Symphonie Fantastique
Direction
I’m developing this new cross-arts collaboration. We are currently working on a commission and developing plans for a co-production from 2018.
Rough Fiction and London Arts Orchestra present a new piece of orchestral theatre that weaves movement and text through a full orchestral performance of Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique. This unique collaboration between orchestra and theatre company takes Berlioz’ opium-fuelled score as the blueprint for a heady, theatrical journey into the depths of the composer’s imagination and his obsessive pursuit of a masterpiece.
His Wild Imaginings invites you to enter the imagination of man on the verge of creating one of the romantic movement’s most famous and unexpected symphonies – a symphony written out of a composer’s unrequited love for an actress, and his passionate encounter with Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
This new production is the natural next step in the evolution of classical music performance, deepening and enriching appreciation for orchestral music and composers such as Hector Berlioz.
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The first stage of the project was a 3-week research and development process to explore the possibilities of combining a live symphony orchestra with theatrical performance to reveal the hidden depths and contextual background that surround a famous classical symphony, with the long-term aim of bringing new audience to classical music. It has involved a week’s work in The Barbican’s Pit Theatre as part of Barbican/Guildhall’s Open Lab project and culminated in a rehearsal sharing at the wonderful LSO St Luke’s on 10th July 2015.
