Another facet of Berlioz! We may find it hard to imagine that the composer of such epics as ‘Les Troyens’ started out as a guitarist… and that his first compositional experience was to transcribe songs, inherited from the Ancien Regime, for voice and guitar. The particular instrument that was given to Berlioz by Paganini survives to this day; here it brings us closer to the repertoire suitable for a musicale hosted by Berlioz: airs for voice and guitar, but also art songs (a genre which the composer pioneered), along with chamber music and pieces for solo piano. Another way of listening to Berlioz!
