Symphonie Fantastique Original

A Visual Interpretation of Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist in Five Sections by Hector Berlioz

Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique is a cornerstone of Romanticism—an intensely vivid, almost hallucinatory journey through the life and unbridled passions of an artist. Many consider it autobiographical, with the figure of his beloved serving as both muse and specter, appearing across shifting times and dreamlike spaces. In the final act, she is transformed into a haunting, supernatural presence—a witch at the heart of his fevered vision.

For this audiovisual concert, the full programmatic symphony was meticulously deconstructed into 75 scene cues, each unfolding through real-time generative simulations and AI-driven workflows. The woman—an ephemeral yet omnipresent figure in the artist’s imagination—was envisioned within the latent space of Stable Diffusion, emerging as a sculptural form that resonated with the site’s historical significance.

The projection mapping was designed specifically for the ancient Roman theater in Plovdiv (Bulgaria), integrating the architectural textures of the ruins into the visual narrative. Light and shadow played across the worn stone, transforming the space into an extension of the artist’s mind—where memory, fantasy, and delirium converged. As the music swelled, the projections evolved, shifting from delicate, almost classical compositions to frenzied, surreal imagery, mirroring the emotional arc of Berlioz’s masterpiece.

This fusion of classical music and cutting-edge digital art reimagined Symphonie Fantastique as an immersive, site-specific spectacle—one where history, technology, and emotion collide in an unforgettable symphonic hallucination.

State Opera Plovdiv 2023
Dian Chobanov, Conductor
Petko Tanchev, Visual Аrtist
Orchestra of Opera Plovdiv

Interview about the concert, presented on the Bulgarian National Television: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=hPT2JWEfnu4&ab_channel=%D0%91%D1%8A%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B8%D1%8F%D0%91%D0%9D%D0%A2

Full concert recording: https://youtu.be/wPoM-Es4dbI