New details of Berlioz’s first concert tour in Russia: programs, dates, press

Hector Berlioz's first concert tour in Russia in 1847 is known as one of the resounding triumphs of his career. Nonetheless, existing international scholarly studies provide divergent descriptions of his concerts, perhaps because of a lack of modern Russian scholarship on this topic. This article presents new information from Russian archives and the press regarding the dates and programs of seven concerts Berlioz gave in Russia in 1847, and compares this new information with currently accepted facts in the scholarly literature on Berlioz. These new primary materials shed light on the organization and reception of Berlioz's concert in St Petersburg and Moscow and demonstrate certain particularities of concert life in mid‑19th century Russia.