With his affinity for the 16thcentury sculptor Benvenuto Cellinis advocacy of artistic and personal freedom Hector Berlioz went straight for the grand gesture with his first completed opera Returning to it years after initial production debacles Berlioz stated that he would never again find such verve and Cellinian impetuosity nor such a variety of ideas The plot revolves around Cellinis wooing of Teresa a match frustrated at every opportunity by his rival the cowardly Fieramosca Benvenuto Cellini is a pithy work combining romance excitement violence comedy and spectacle the perfect stage for Terry Gilliams stylishly colorful and larger than life directing
