Berlioz, the misunderstood giant

Le Regard Libre N° 65 - Jean-David Ponci

According to Wagner, there were three of them. Berlioz, Liszt and himself: the three giants of the age. It makes you wonder. How could a composer as controversial as Berlioz be a giant? Exalted by some, disparaged by many, the only thing that can be said, at first glance, is that he did not leave his contemporaries indifferent.

«Berlioz has no talent... he grimaces... he gropes in the dark... and believes himself the creator of a new world... His art is worthless. Berlioz is pretentious and longs for only one thing: to marry... But his company and conversation are pleasant, and that helps me to bear it...». So says Mendelssohn. It's quite logical that a conservative such as Mendelssohn wouldn't understand Berlioz, but Debussy, that innovator, would be no more complimentary, calling him a mo