Nothing Is Ever Too Romantic

Hector Berlioz stood for excess, exaggeration, life as a novel—and the novel as life. Alongside Chateaubriand, he is a symbol of French Romanticism: a whirlwind of imaginative extremes, including the creation of a musical science fiction novel, In the Land of Euphonia, a biting and parodic vision of Bel Canto-era Italy. The period elevated the poet of imagination—from Lord Byron to Ugo Foscolo—as a model for an entire generation, in a tangled blend of art and life that defined an era. Berlioz was a central figure of this season, viewing the artistic act as a potential moment of ecstasy and escape from the everyday.

Followed by wine and product tasting from Laguna nel bicchiere