Berlioz in Paris
4 rue de Calais
After a few month’s stay in the nearby rue de Vintimille (no. 17), Berlioz finally moved to 4 rue de Calais, where he finished Les Troyens. The building had recently been completed (it bears a plaque with the date 1856 and the name of the architect Lamy). The flat on the fourth floor was Berlioz’s home for most of the last 12 years of his life, from October 1856 to his death on 8th March 1869. For over a year, from March 1861 to September 1862, Berlioz was forced to move down to the second floor (the floor with the balcony), because of enforced repairs to the building, which had been hastily constructed. The house bears a commemorative plaque.
All the modern photographs reproduced on this page were taken by Michel Austin; the old photo is in our own collection. © Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin. All rights of reproduction reserved.
Main entrance
Façade
Courtyard
The commemorative plaque on the first floor
The rue de Calais from the top end
No. 4 is at the lower end, on the left, not far from rue Blanche, on the right.
No. 4 rue de Calais, from an old photograph
This photo is taken from Ernest Reyer, ‘Hector Berlioz: Biographical notes and personal reminiscences’, in The International Library of Music, 1925. New York: The University Society (in our collection). See also this site an earlier publication of the same article in 1893.
© 2000-2010 Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin for all the pictures and information on this page.
Copyright notice: The texts, photos, images and musical scores on all pages of this site are covered by UK Law and International Law. All rights of publication or reproduction of this material in any form, including Web page use, are reserved. Their use without our explicit permission is illegal.
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