Prom 37: The Childhood of Christ - 14.08.19

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Berlioz can divide opinion as a composer, and perhaps some bits he did drag out.

I did feel that there was a smidgen of "dragging", but felt that was the conductor - certainly none in any of the three recordings I have (Inbal, JEGgers, Munch).

But I can also see why this work was so popular in his own lifetime, apparently one of the relatively few occasions of compositional success that he enjoyed.

Berlioz was highly popular in Germany and Russia (and even in Englad) during his lifetime - and with audiences in France, too. Professional jealousies and political upheavals [look at all the regime changes, and public uprisings during his lifetime] - as well as the completely new aesthetic he brought to French Music - made him a figure that those in charge of cultural performances couldn't "accommodate".