Episode 1

It's a classic tale of the nineteenth century artist ... always at odds with the establishment in his native France, lurching from one disastrous romantic entanglement to the next, never quite knowing whether he would stay afloat financially. Nonetheless, Hector Berlioz swept music into the Romantic age almost single-handedly, redefining the nature of the symphony and inventing the modern orchestra. Donald Macleod explores the life and music of the great innovator, beginning with Berlioz's struggles against his parents' disapproval of his choice of career ("folly") and of his wife, Harriet, who disappointed them on four counts: she was an actress, a foreigner, a Protestant - and penniless to boot.