About Us
Symphonie Fantastique: an exciting new orchestra performing exclusively on nineteenth-century instruments. Forty-six young, talented musicians from across Europe are lead by Robert Levin and Peter Hanson, two of the most vibrant interpreters of nineteenth century music who are at the cutting edge of the historical performance scene. The musicians of the orchestra come from all over Europe. They play regularly with orchestras such as the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Anima Eterna, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment… What makes Symphonie Fantastique special? The enthusiasm of the musicians, the excitement of discovering new ways of playing old music, the freshness that the audience can feel in every performance.
The story began at the 2007 Festival de Saintes in Poitou-Charentes, on the French Atlantic Coast, where the musicians of Symphonie Fantastique explored the works of Schumann with Robert Levin. Under the direction of Robert Levin, the musicians and audience alike experienced a new way of exploring the musical language and sound-world of the nineteenth century.
Period Instruments
One of the most important differences between modern orchestras and the ensembles of the mid-nineteenth century is the number of musicians. Symphonie Fantastique will use between 40 and 50 musicians, compared to the 100-strong modern symphony orchestra. The use of historical instruments also gives the orchestra a very different sound: The woodwinds instruments are more delicate and characterful, giving the musician a new palette of colours with which to paint the music. The brass instruments and the timpani have a much more focussed timbre and are less heavy in the orchestral balance, compared with modern instruments. With gut strings and period bows, the strings are able to produce a much clearer and more lively articulation. By performing music of the nineteenth century on contemporary instruments, musicians and audience alike re-discover a textural transparency and range of orchestral colour impossible to achieve by any other means.
However it is not just by changing instruments that we capture the sound of an earlier time. The musicians of Symphonie Fantastique are dedicated to researching and using the playing techniques of the nineteenth century. This gives them a way of presenting familiar music in a manner as fresh as its first performance, capturing the spirit of the Romantic age when this music first challenging the boundaries of expression.
