to Rome. He returned back to Paris in November 1832 and moved into an apartment that had just recently been occupied by Harriet Smithson. When Berlioz learned of this, his feelings immediately came flowing back to him. He gave a concert of Symphonie Fantastique and its sequel, Lelio in December. He invited Harriet to sit in a box and she attended. Her career wasn’t going so well and she was in financial hardship so she decided to meet Berlioz. She saw him as a way out of debt, so on October 3, 1833, they were married. In December, he gave a performance of King Lear, after which Paganini gave him great praise, and they developed a friendship. Berlioz wrote a piece for him and turned it into Harold in Italy. In 1834, they had a son, Louis. Harriet’s acting career failed, and her beauty and health were fading fast. She soon began drinking and was turning into a shrew. Berlioz could not deal with her anymore, and moved out and took a mistress named Marie Recio, and opera singer. The next few years after that, he traveled a lot with success in Germany, Russia and London. He began his memoirs in 1848 and a year after that his father died. Between 1848 and 1855, he traveled more with mixed results. In 1854, Harriet died. In 1855, Berlioz was appreciated and recognized as a great composer. His great works were affecting other composers and his Treatise on Instrumentation was becoming a standard textbook. In 1862, however, Marie died of a heart attack, and in 1867, his son died of yellow fever. In January of 1869, Berlioz became very sick and was bedridden. He died two months later. He is buried in Paris today, with a square bearing his name with an overlooking statue. *Chopin! Frederic Francois Chopin, one of the greatest composers of all time, was born in Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw on February 22, 1810. His father was a Frenchman who had lived in Poland for many years and his mother was Polish and of noble birth. He loved to p...
