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A year later, Berlioz fell hopelessly in love with the 27 year-old Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, who in the heyday of her glory was performing in Paris at that time. The young composer suffering from unrequited love worked hard to win her heart but for a long time to no avail. She considered him a lunatic as she received overly passionate notes from another admirer who was madly in love with her but took him for being Berlioz himself. To prove to her that he had talent Berlioz composed a lot. His works of the period include songs, cantatas, and overtures, during this period he began to write musical critiques for Parisian publications and started to rely on journalism for a living since his father had suspended his allowance. Berlioz was gradually introduced to the Parisian literary and cultural circles where he made the acquaintance of and became friends with such outstanding contemporaries as Chopin, Liszt, Hugo, and Balzac. On December 5, 1830, Berlioz’s probably best known work Symphonie Fantastique, inspired by his relationship with Harriet Smithson, premiered at the Conservatoire. Franz Liszt, whom Berlioz had met the day before, was present at the performance and fascinated by the music, invited the composer to dinner and eventually they became good friends. In 1830 after several unsuccessful attempts he won the coveted Prix de Rome, which meant a stable income under the state scholarship, and went to Italy where he wrote symphony works – in a very vivid, expressive and colorful style. He was back in Paris in 1832 and organized a concert featuring his Symphonie Fantastique along with its sequel Lélio to notable success. The next year he married Harriet Smithson, whose fame had slowly started to decline, and had to work hard to support the family. In 1834 he finished his symphony Harold en Italie. Benvenuto Cellini – another opera - failed due to a hostile audience. In 1839 his “dramatic symphony” Roméo et Juliette saw the light of day. A year later, his Symphonie funèbre et triomphale under the direction of Berlioz himself was performed for the first time.
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