Hector Berlioz's early Romantic tour de force, Symphonie fantastique, headlines the evening, telling the bizarre story of an artist in five movements: His love for a young woman sweeps from joy to jealousy into an opium-fueled dream of a witches' sabbath. The program begins with a pair of inimitable Stravinsky pieces that effortlessly mesh menace and beauty: The Colorado Symphony Chorus sings with the orchestra on his Symphony of Psalms, then violinist Philippe Quint performs Violin Concerto in D major on a 1708 Stradivarius.
