Classical Works: Le carnival romain (Roman Carnival Overture), ouverture catactéristique for orchestra, H.95 (Op. 9)
Date: 1844 01
Main Performer: Hector Berlioz
Genre: Orchestral
Period: Romantic (1820-1869)
Review
Berlioz 's most popular and most virtuosic overture is actually an independent concert piece, but it has close ties to an opera. After the premiere of his opera Benvenuto Cellini, based on the autobiography of the famous Italian Renaissance sculptor,
Berlioz never forgave the conductor for his lifeless delivery of the second act's saltarello finale. So ten years later he used the saltarello as the opening of his Roman Carnival Overture, and took the trouble to conduct the work himself in its first performances. But even before the strings and winds can really launch the revelry, the solo horn and clarinet introduce some harmonic ambiguity, and the English horn slips in with the rapturous love-duet theme from the opera's first act. Suddenly, three swirling woodwind passages suggest that fireworks are being set off on the Piazza Colonna, and the saltarello takes over, eventually incorporating the love theme into the festivities.
Berlioz was so pleased with this overture, and with its reception as well, that he advocated using it as the prelude to the second act of Benvenuto Cellini. This practice is usually followed to this day. After the overture's publication in full score, Johann Peter Pixis arranged it for two pianos, eight hands. This arrangement received a performance by the pianistic luminaries
Franz Liszt , Charles Hallé,
Ferdinand Hiller , and Pixis himself -- full testimony to its status as one of the hits of its day. ~ All Music Guide
Albums with Complete Performances of the Work
Gateway To Classical Music: The Romantic Era 1996 Berlioz: Great Orchestral Works 1994 Hector Berlioz: Requiem Op. 5/3 Overtures Popular Classics Beecham: Maestro Tempestoso, Disc 4 2000 American Maestros 2003 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Harold en Italie; Overtures 2006 Koussevitzky: Maestro Risoluto, Disc 2 2001 Famous Overtures 1997 Bizet & Berlioz 1996 Dallas Symphony Orchestra Centennial Musical Celebration Classique Tentation: Ballets, Ouvertures & Suites Paul van Kempen Conducts Berlioz, Beethoven, Schubert, Tchaikovsky 1995 Portrait of Andre Previn 1999 Mengelberg Conducts French Music 1994 Proms Favourites Berlioz: Symphony Fantastique Sergiu Celibidache: From the collection of Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv Orchestral Showpieces 1998 Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture Op9; Troyens H133 1997 Roman Festival André Previn - The Maestro 1997 Franck: Symphony in D; French Music French Masterworks 2001 Berlioz: Overtures 1989 Instead Of Caffeine 1997 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Le Carnaval romain 2003 World's Greatest Overtures 1995 Best-Loved Classics 10 1997 Romantique: Dreams of Love 2006 Philharmonia Promenade Concert 2005 Herbert Von Karajan - The Maestro Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Les nuits d'été; La mort de Cléopatre 1994 In Classical Mood: The Magic of Italy 1998 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Saint-Saëns: Organ Symphony 1995 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Roman Carnival Overture; Marche hongroise Sunday Evenings with Pierre Monteux Mengelberg Conducts Liszt, Berlioz, Weber 2002 Leo Blech Conducts Berlioz, Smetana, Liszt, Schubert 1991 Victor Fedotov Conducts Berlioz, Gounod, Dukas, Ravel 2004 Berlioz: Overtures 1995 Sir Adrian Boult conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2 2006 Roman Festival 1994 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Overtures [Hybrid SACD] 2005 Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture Op9; Corsaire Overture Op21 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Le Carnaval romain; Le Corsaire 2005 Symphony Hall Centennial Celebration 2001 Wagner, Brahms and Berlioz Bizet: Roma / Symphony in C / Roman Carnival 1988 Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Favourite Overtures, Volume II 1994 Berlioz: Harold in Italy; Overtures [Hybrid SACD] 2007 Karajan Edition - Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique Etc. 1998 Lifestyles Music for the Festive Gourmet 2000 Berlioz: Requiem; La Mort de Cléopatre; Ouverture du Carnaval Romain 2005 Quiet Time Classics (Box Set) 2004 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Le Carnaval Romain 2004 Time Out Classics (Box Set) 2000 Panorama: Hector Berlioz 2000 The Best of Berlioz 1999 Carnival 1994 Saint-Saëns: Violin Concerto No. 3; Koechlin: Les Bandar-Log; Cherubini: Anacreon Overture 2005 Arthur Nikisch 1991 Sir Hamilton Harty Conducts Berlioz Berlioz: Overtures 2005 Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz and others Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Ouverture du Corsaire; Le Carnaval Romain 1997 Time Out Classics, Vol. 2 2000 Overtures by Berlioz; Mendelssohn; Schubert; Smetana & Strauss 2004 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Le carneval romain Overture 1999 Rossini, Auber, Berlioz: Overtures [SACD] 2000 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Op14; Roman Carnival Overture Op9 Munch Conducts Berlioz 2004 Berlioz: Harold in Italy/Roman Carnival 1988 Berlioz: Overtures; Queen Mab Scherzo 1993 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, etc. 1989 Time Out 2000 Artur Nikisch: Complete Orchestral Recordings Berlioz: Overtures 2002 Berlioz Edition (Box Set) 2003 French Favourites Munch conducts Berlioz 1996 Berlioz: The Fantastic Symphony 1996 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique 1982 Light Cavalry and Other Romantic Overtures 1997 Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vol. 2 (1950-1960) 2003 Romantic Overtures 2000 Roman Carnival 1991 The Great Classics Overturas 2004 Mahler: Symphony No.1/Berlioz: Le Carnaval Romain Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Berlioz Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique/Le Corsaire/Le Carnaval Romain 1993 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique 1999 Classics at the Pops 2004 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Op14; Roman Carnival Overture Op9 1990 The Ultimate Overtures Classics in the Park 1999 The 20th Century Maestros (Box Set) Arturo Toscanini & NBC Orchestra Vol. 9 1999 Berlioz Greatest Hits 1989 8 Popular Overtures 1992 Vive la Liberte 1991 Berlioz, Bizet, Delibes, Ravel: Orchestral Works 2002 Overtures 1998 Classics at the Pops [Hybrid SACD] 2004 Berlioz: Harold en Italie 1985 The Great French Classics 1997 Arturo Toscanini Collection, Volume 39 1992 Danses et Ouvertures a l'Italienne Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture Op9 1991 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Overtures 1992 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Op14; Damnation of Faust Op24 1995 Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sessions of November 22, 1944 1996 Sunday Evenings with Pierre Monteux 1997 The Berlin Album French Symphonies 1998 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Berlioz: Les nuits d'été 2000 Koussevitzky: Maestro Risoluto (Box Set) Stokowski: Maestro Celebre, Disc 4 Berlioz: Complete Orchestral Works 1997 The Legendary Concert in Salzburg, August 1, 1953 Berlioz For Dummies Victor de Sabata Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Le carnaval romain; Overture to Béatrice et Bénédict 2001 Karel Ancerl Conducts Celebrated Overtures 1999 London Horn Sound 1999 Berlioz: Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale 1998 Arthur Nikisch conducts Beethoven, Liszt & Berlioz Gateway To Classical Music: Volume 1/Volume 2 1994 Ibert: Divertissement; Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre; Le Rouet D'Omphale 1995 Offenbach Overtures 1992 The Berlioz Experience Symphonic Spectaculars 1988 Classical Pops Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Les Luits d'été; Ouvertures 2001 Italia! 1994 Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Carnaval Romain 1994 Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Berlioz and others Opera Overtures Recordings From 1939 to 1946 Hector Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Le Carnaval Romain; Overture: Le Corsaire 2003 Beecham: Maestro Tempestoso (Box Set) 2000 Light Cavalry 1988 Berlioz: Damnation of Faust Op24; Roman Carnival Overture Op9 1995 Early Years (Box Set) 20th Century Maestros: Victor de Sabata & Dmitri Mitropoulos 2000 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Carnival Romain 1998 Italy's Greatest Hits 1990 Decca Recordings, 1948-1953 2003 Festive Overtures Leo Music of the Zodiac 1996 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Le Carnaval romain Overture 2002 Recording Pioneers (1898-1924) Berlioz: Harold in Italy; King Lear Overture; Roman Carnival Overture 1991 Berlioz: Overtures 1994 The Great History of French Classical Music Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9; Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 1993 125 Years of the Dresden Philharmonic, 1870-1995 (Box Set) 1995 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique Op14; Roman Carnival Overture Op9 World of Classics: The Great History of French Classical Music, Disc 2 1998 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Overtures 2002 Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture Op9; Harold in Italy Op16 Classic Brass 2000 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Roman Carnival Overture; Beatrice & Benedict Overture 1994
Albums with Excerpt Performances of the Work
