Berlioz based his sparkling overture Le Carnaval Romain on themesfrom his opera Benvenuto Cellini. The opera had been performed a fewtimes in Paris, a number of years before, with little success. The overturehowever, quickly became very popular and is still today a great a crowdpleaser. The energetic vitality of the work - with an Italian touch- is certainly present in this skilfully written transcription by TohruTakahashi.