It was perhaps on the shores of Lake Como that Franz Liszt immersed himself in reading Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, nurturing for almost twenty years the ambition of creating a symphony inspired by the Italian writer’s masterpiece. Advised by Wagner to abandon the movement dedicated to Paradise – as it would be impossible to portray it in music – Liszt concentrated on composing music inspired by Hell and Purgatory. Berlioz, too, was inspired by literature for the composition of his magnificent song cycle Les nuits d’été – in this case, the poetry collection La Comédie de la Mort by his friend Théophile Gautier.