The selection is an unusual one, and may well appeal to Berlioz collectors who want this particular combination; but such is the wealth of recordings now available that even Rob Roy has several competitive versions, two of them, appropriately, Scottish (the SNO with Gibson on Chandos, 8/84 and the BBC Scottish Symphony with Maksymiuk on Schwann). Berlioz was almost literally the first to attack the work, burning the score on the day of the premiere, he said. However, he was prudent enough to save a couple of good ideas, which were put to better use in Harold in Italy.
Vronsky finds it hard to make much formal sense of what is indeed one of Berlioz's more rambling works; but the Brno State Philharmonic play the 'Scots wha hae' theme cheerfully, and manage to cut quite a dash in Le corsaire. The Roi Lear is soberly and well played; Benvenuto Cellini goes less well, with the giddy rhythmic swerves of the opening (one of Berlioz's most extraordinary pieces of metrical asymmetry) making less than their liveliest effect, not least because the triplets are rather blurred by the recording. Only really recommended for this exact choice of four overtures.'