Berlioz, Roman Carnival Overture

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) originally wrote the Roman Carnival Overture as part of his opera Benvenuto Cellini, which is a mostly fictional tale about the historical Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571). The opera was not a success, receiving only three performances initially in 1839. Five years later, Berlioz conducted the overture, taken from a carnival scene in the opera. The overture was an immediate success. The opera, in spite of its initial failure, is now considered a significant work and can be found among the Metropolitan Opera’s recordings.

The overture begins, however, with an English horn solo based on a love duet from the opera: “O Teresa, vous que j’aime plus que ma vie” (O Teresa, whom I love more than my own life). But the work’s main theme is in the form of a salterello, an Italian court dance that worked its way into folk dance as well. Salterellos show up in quite a few classical works, perhaps most famously in the final movement of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 (“Italian”). 

Berlioz made several attempts as a conservatory student to win France’s premier prize for composition: the Prix de Rome. He received the award on his fourth attempt and then spent two years (1830-1832) studying in Rome and spent some time with Mendelssohn who was also visiting Italy. Benvenuto Cellini was written, however, a few years after Berlioz left Italy.