Berlioz Great Orchestral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Hector Berlioz
Label: Duo
Magazine Review Date: 10/1994
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 150
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 442 290-2PM2

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Symphonie fantastique |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Colin Davis, Conductor Hector Berlioz, Composer London Symphony Orchestra |
(Le) carnaval romain |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Colin Davis, Conductor Hector Berlioz, Composer London Symphony Orchestra |
(Le) Corsaire |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Colin Davis, Conductor Hector Berlioz, Composer London Symphony Orchestra |
Harold en Italie |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Colin Davis, Conductor Hector Berlioz, Composer London Symphony Orchestra Nobuko Imai, Viola |
Symphonie funèbre et triomphale |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
(John) Alldis Choir Colin Davis, Conductor Hector Berlioz, Composer London Symphony Orchestra |
Author: John Warrack
Davis's performances of Berlioz remain among the finest of our time, and in days when there was still a cause to be won they played a crucial part in establishing a central place in the repertory for that wayward romantic genius. Those here recorded have long been favourites with collectors and it is splendid, and splendid value, to have them here assembled in a convenient two-disc format. The oldest, the Symphonie fantastique, has been more sumptuously recorded since, but not conducted more perceptively or more excitingly, not least since Davis never goes for mere excitement: his charge of energy comes from a deeper involvement with the music, so that the liveliness of ''Un bal'' can emerge from a tinge of the sinister in the opening figures and the ''Marche au supplice'' thuds with menace beneath the crack of the rhythms. There is a strong case for the period-instrument versions by Norrington and Gardiner, but of those using the standard modern orchestra there is none I would prefer.
Nobuko Imai's performance of Harold is not, however, one to set above Davis's 1962 recording of the work with Menuhin. She is confident, warm and smooth where Menuhin's more questing approach seeks out more. Nevertheless, it is a fine performance, as is that of the Symphonie funebre et triomphale. The two overtures make up a full pair of discs in a highly recommendable package.'
Nobuko Imai's performance of Harold is not, however, one to set above Davis's 1962 recording of the work with Menuhin. She is confident, warm and smooth where Menuhin's more questing approach seeks out more. Nevertheless, it is a fine performance, as is that of the Symphonie funebre et triomphale. The two overtures make up a full pair of discs in a highly recommendable package.'
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