Aurore Ugolin

Scofield: Berlioz’s a really wonderful composer, still rather controversial, very individualistic, but this is going to be a rare chance to hear some of his lesser-known music, these songs.

Ugolin: It’s not very often sung or given. It’s a chance to be able to perform it, and for the public to be able to hear it because it’s not so often given.

Scofield: Yes, you’re right. He wrote quite a large number of songs I think, but he’s not best known for his songs, certainly not as popular as some of his orchestral works like the Symphony Fantastique, those other very big works. But one thing that seems to be a common thread between the songs and those big works is Berlioz’s individual style. He’s really not like any other composer that you can pinpoint, is he?

Ugolin: Yeah, that’s correct. And it’s a challenge even in his opera works, like La damnation de Faust, you need to be dramatic, you need more lyricism, but also to be very delicate and graceful. So, it’s quite a challenge I mean. To be a composer like Berlioz, you have to mix this big drama and lyricism with something more intimate like you are talking about.

Scofield: Yes, because Berlioz has a lot of very passionate defenders and advocates for his music, but he’s got quite a lot of critics as well, who say, well, he didn’t stick to some of the traditions of harmony and musical structure of his time. What do you think about that?

Ugolin: I think that usually for any artist, you have some critics. It’s also because you are different, and you are bringing something unusual, and that’s what makes the difference sometimes. It’s what makes the interests.  

Scofield: You are right. And still, he remains controversial. I remember one comment by Pierre Boulez about Berlioz who said, awkward harmonies in Berlioz that make one want to scream. And that’s here in the 20th Century, so, imagine what they thought back 150 years ago.

Ugolin: Yeah, I think this is the magic for music and arts. Sometimes when musicians or painters are pushing the lines, that’s what makes the thing interesting and brings emotion. Even though it’s anger, even though you want to scream. But it creates something, you feel things.

Scofield: Absolutely.