The Bells & Symphonie fantastique

Bells will ring throughout Music Hall as Berlioz depicts a haunted artist’s dreams and Rachmaninoff tolls through life’s phases.

Can you hear the bells? Rachmaninoff’s choral symphony The Bells — inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s poem of the same name — evokes the experience of bells ringing through the phases of life, and features Cincinnati’s own May Festival Chorus. Then, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique takes you inside the delirious fever-dream of a young artist driven mad by unrequited love. Fueled by opium-induced hallucinations, the visions culminate in a sabbath dance where the bells toll a haunting clamor.

Program

Sergei Rachmaninoff The Bells 
Hector Berlioz Symphonie fantastique 

Artists

Matthias Pintscher conductor
Andriana Chuchmann soprano
Garrett Sorenson tenor
Joshua Hopkins baritone
May Festival Chorus, Matthew Swanson director