Lelio

Lélio, ou Le retour à la vie, or The Return to Life, is the second part of the composer Hector Berlioz's "Episode in the life of an artist". The first part is his famous program symphony Symphonie Fantastique.

The composition was finished in June 1831, one year after Symphonie Fantastique. ItT was first performed at the Paris Conservatoire on the 9th December, 1832.

The work includes narrations by an actor on stage and music by orchestra. It starts with a narration , and then a music piece and repeat untill the final Narration and Coda. The music includes Le Pecheur, Choeur d'ombres, Chanson de brigands, Chant de bonheur, La Harpe eolinne, and Fantaisie sur la Tempete de Shakespeare.

Lelio is primarily a collection of tunes Berlioz had written previously, strung together in such a way as to finish the story begun in the Fantastique. Here is a short summary:

The Artist awakes from his opium trip, muses on Shakespeare, his sad life, and not having a woman. He finally decides that if he can't put this unrequited love out of his head, he will immerse himself in music. He then leads an orchestra to a succesful performance of one of his new compositions and the story ends relatively peaceful.