BERLIOZ La Captive
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Hector Berlioz
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Challenge Classics
Magazine Review Date: 09/2014
Media Format: Super Audio CD
Media Runtime: 48
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CC72639
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Herminie |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Antonello Manacorda, Conductor Hector Berlioz, Composer Het Gelders Orkest Lisa Larsson, Soprano |
(La) captive |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Antonello Manacorda, Conductor Hector Berlioz, Composer Het Gelders Orkest Lisa Larsson, Soprano |
(La) Mort de Cléopâtre, '(The) Death of Cleopa |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Antonello Manacorda, Conductor Hector Berlioz, Composer Het Gelders Orkest Lisa Larsson, Soprano |
Author: David Patrick Stearns
Far from the wounded goddess that would eventually lead to Dido in Les Troyens, Larsson’s characterisations of these early-period works have a more fragile humanity, with pockets of psychological detail missed by others, often conveyed with a confiding intimacy that might only be possible in the recording studio. Even the studio setting, though, doesn’t protect her from being covered by the orchestra, particularly in sections of La mort de Cléopâtre that lie in the weaker, lower areas of her voice. In moments when her voice starts to show its mileage, the two different voices used for Herminie and Cléopâtre (Michèle Lagrange and Béatrice Uria-Monzon) on the Naxos disc ‘Berlioz Cantatas’ seem preferable.
Then the Larsson disc re insinuates itself. Of all the spacious SACD productions that have come out of Challenge Classics, none I’ve heard is this luminous. Antonello Manacorda never overshadows Larsson heedlessly, but with interpretative purpose. His orchestra may not be ready to record Symphonie fantastique but his advocacy of these works makes them sound like major Berlioz (as opposed to dry runs for later, better works). In fact, his treatment of the Cléopâtre orchestral writing makes the piece sound downright dangerous. Another drawing card is La captive, Berlioz’s Op 12 song from which the disc takes its title, with Larsson making the somewhat discursive Victor Hugo verse sound more cogent, with special sensitivity to the nocturnal imagery. Flaws and all, this is a fine addition to the Berlioz discography.
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