Berlioz / Schumann
Programme
R. SCHUMANN
Manfred, Overture
Symphony No. 3 “Rhenish”
BERLIOZ
Les Nuits d’été
Distribution
À propos
Between inner night and rediscovered light, Insula orchestra explores the contrasts of Robert Schumann’s universe.
The Manfred overture, born from Byron’s poem, opens the evening with the torments of a solitary hero locked in battle with himself. Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été then traces a more secret parenthesis: set to the poems of Théophile Gautier, the voice of Marianne Crebassa—a mezzo-soprano among the most admired of her generation—unfolds within a delicate orchestration, magnified by period instruments. Love, absence, memory: each mélodie paints an inner landscape.
After these nocturnal wanderings, the Symphony No. 3 “Rhenish” broadens the horizon like a luminous dawn—carried by the inspiration of the Rhine and the collective élan of the orchestra.
At the helm of Insula orchestra, Laurence Equilbey infuses this programme with her intimate knowledge of the Romantic repertoire on period instruments—an ensemble she founded and has led for over ten years with a rigour and passion recognised across the European stage.
This concert is performed on period instruments.