Berlioz in Paris
Théâtre
de l’Odéon
(now Odéon Théâtre de l’Europe)
The Odéon theatre had numerous associations for Berlioz, and he started to frequent it from his early days in Paris. The theatre, which in its present form dates from 1819, was used for performances of operas, ballets and plays, and in the early 1820s it had an excellent orchestra. It was there that Berlioz first heard Weber’s Der Freischütz in 1825, though in a disguised and mutilated form as Robin des bois, arranged by Castil-Blaze (cf. Memoirs chapter 16). In 1826-7 he hoped to have his early opera Les Francs Juges performed at the Odéon, though the project fell through when permission was refused by the government to stage new works in French there.
It was at the Odéon that Berlioz had his first experience of Shakespeare, who was to have such a profound influence on his music: on 11 September 1827 he saw a production of Hamlet, with Harriet Smithson, the Irish actress whom he later married, in the role of Ophelia. A few days later, on 15 September, he saw her in the role of Juliet. In his Memoirs Berlioz writes of this encounter thus:
"The impression made on my heart and mind by her extraordinary talent, nay her dramatic genius, was equalled only by the havoc wrought in me by the poet she so nobly interpreted". He goes on to say, "Shakespeare, coming upon me unawares, struck me like a thunderbolt. The lightning flash of that discovery revealed to me at a stroke the whole heaven of art, illuminating it to its remotest corners" (chapter 18).
A copy of the coloured lithograph of the Odéon by
Salathé is in the Library of the Paris Opéra. The black and white lithographs
showing Miss Smithson as Ophelia and Juliet are both by Devéria and Boulanger,
and were published in a 19th century book in our collection.
This old postcard is in our collection.
An early nineteenth century engraving of the Théâtre de l’Odéon
The Théâtre
de l’Odéon c. 1830
Harriet
Smithson as Ophelia in Hamlet
Harriet
Smithson as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
© 2000-2006 (unless otherwise stated) Michel Austin and Monir Tayeb for all the photos, engravings and information on this and other Berlioz in Paris pages
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