The BBC Orchestra
(Section D)
Leader, Paul Beard
Conducted by Julius Harrison
Frank Merrick (pianoforte)
Just over sixty years ago Berlioz produced an opera from which this piece is an extract. This ' Symphonic Entr'acte' represents a scene in ' a virgin forest in the neighbourhood of Carthage '. Naiads appear and bathe. The hunt is heard in the distance, gradually drawing nearer, and the naiads vanish. Hunters cross the scene A storm approaches. While the storm increases, Ascanias, son of Æneas, gallops past, followed by other huntsmen. The storm approaches its height and night falls, Dido and /Eneas, hunting, arrive and take refuge in a cave. Wood Nymphs appear, singing; also Fauns and Satyrs, all of whom dance a grotesque dance in the darkness. A little stream in the rocks becomes a noisy cataract. Lightning strikes a tree, and finally the whole scene is obscured by dense clouds. The storm at last abates and the clouds scatter.