This time, the bewildered actress came, heard and was conquered. After a feverish courtship Berlioz and Harriet Smithson were married in October 1833. ‘We trust,’ wrote the ungallant Court Journal, ...

Hector Berlioz — more formally, Louis-Hector Berlioz — was born in 1803. It’s amazing to think of this, given the nature of his music. That birth year seems so early! Berlioz was born just ...

Harriet Smithson did eventually become his first ... wife Marie Recio Images 2 and 4 reproduced with permission of the Hector Berlioz website Image 5 reproduced with permission of the Musée ...

Courtesy Ethan Zhou. In 1830, lovelorn French composer Hector Berlioz wrote a symphony for the object of his obsession, actress Harriet Smithson. Titled “Symphonie Fantastique,” it tells the ...