Berlioz based his sparkling overture Le Carnaval Romain on themes
from his opera Benvenuto Cellini. The opera had been performed a few times in Paris, a number of years before, with little success. The overture however, quickly became very popular and is still today a great a crowd pleaser. The energetic vitality of the work - with an Italian touch - is certainly present in this skilfully written transcription by Tohru Takahashi.