Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - V. Dream of a Night of the Sabbath (Mark Wigglesworth/BSO)

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Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra perform Dream of a Night of the Sabbath, the fifth movement of a crowd favourite: Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz. Hector Berlioz was a good friend of Sax and the first composer to write a piece for the new instrument. Ever the original, his Symphonie fantastique sounded like no other music yet written when it was first performed in the 1830s. With its daring music and staggeringly inventive use of the orchestra, it tells its own story of forbidden love. Its forms are fresh, its programme is grotesque, with bold, unexpected harmonies and melodies united around a recurring musical motive that he called the ‘idée fixe’. It is still to this day, unlike anything else; there isn’t a page of this score that doesn’t contain something distinctive and surprising – an iconic leap forward in musical and romantic expression.

Before the interval, Saxophone extraordinaire Jess Gillam performed with the orchestra the finale of Dani Howard’s Saxophone Concerto, a piece written specifically for her. The concerto, joint-commissioned by the BSO and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, is a homage to the instrument’s inventor Adolphe Sax. Howard explains that it “reflects the pivotal moments in Sax’s life; his ingenuity, his resilience in the face of adversity, and the enduring legacy of his invention”.

The concert opened with an early comic opera by Wagner, Forbidden Love. It is set in Sicily and celebrates the Italian pleasure in life and love. The very un-Wagner-like overture sets the scene in an almost Gilbert and Sullivan manner, with dancing rhythms, imaginative use of percussion, lots of big ensembles, and flamboyant finale.

Jess Gillam appears courtesy of Decca Classics.

Recorded live at Lighthouse, Poole, on Wednesday 5 November 2025 as part of the BSO Digital Concert Season. BSO Digital Concerts are broadcast live on Wednesday evenings from our home at Lighthouse, Poole. Every concert remains available on demand for 30 days after the performance date.
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