Béatrice et Bénédict Overture

It might be true that Berlioz’s opera Béatrice et Bénédict, first performed at Baden-Baden in 1862, misses much of the spirit of the Shakespeare comedy on which it is based: “Much Ado about Nothing without the ado” as someone unkindly but succinctly put it. The essence of the comedy, however, is there in the Overture, much of it in the playful introduction, where the silences are as witty as the delightful dialogue between woodwind and strings. After an expressive slower episode - based on Beatrice’s aria “Il me souvient” in which she realises she is in love with Benedict - that dialogue is converted into the main theme of the following Allegro. Its triplet laughter, taken from the accompaniment to the lovers’ duet in the finale of the opera, bubbles through a brisk march tune and more sentimental material alike and retains its vivacity right through to the highly effective ending.