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Conductor and tenor are the joint heroes of this exhilarating release. This is Davis s second recording of Berlioz s still neglected comic-heroic-romantic masterpiece about the dissolute Roman sculptor who was commissioned by Pope Clement VII to create a statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa the gorgon; the first was for Philips, in the early 1970s, with Nicolai Gedda in the lead. The American tenor Gregory Kunde doesn t have the most immediately appealing timbre, but the high tessitura holds no terrors for him, his sung French is good and, even in his early fifties, he manages to counterfeit the youthful braggadocio of Berlioz s likeable rapscallion. Davis remains the supreme Berliozian of our day, brilliantly evoking the mercurial wit of the comic repartee, the abandoned gaiety of the Roman carnival and the high drama and suspense of the climactic scene in the foundry, for the casting of Perseus. The supporting cast is less idiomatic than in the Philips set, but Laura Claycomb s diamantine tone and winning manner compensate for less than authentic French. At LSO prices, this is a steal, and and anyone who doesn t know this fabulous score should snap it up. --Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times Classical CD of the Week (April 27, 2008)
As with previous instalments of the London Symphony Orchestra's Berlioz cycle, this recording outshines Davis's version of 40 years ago in sound quality and maturity of interpretation. Berlioz's flamboyant portrait of the Renaissance goldsmith impresses with its sheer vigour and conviction, thanks to Davis's inspiration of orchestra, chorus and a cast led by Gregory Kunde and Laura Claycomb. Including libretto, this is a bargain. --Andrew Clark, Financial Times, 26 April 2008
WHEN the London Symphony Orchestra launched its LSO Live label several years ago, it did so with the magical pairing of Berlioz and Sir Colin Davis. That was a spectacular recording of The Trojans, which epitomised Davis' especial affection for the delicious eccentricities of Berlioz's operatic style. This time, Davis turns his attentions to the joyously unorthodox Benvenuto Cellini in the label's latest blockbuster, and the results are exceptionally good.
There's no escaping the inordinate difficulty of this work, its soaring title role taxing the technique of the greatest lyric tenors, the dazzling unpredictability of the music posing a keen challenge for any orchestra. But Davis has impressive vocal resources to hand, and an LSO on vibrant form to help him.
Right from the start they capture the glorious iridescence of the overture, before unleashing the drama a story based on the adventurous and self-exaggerated life of the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini with a freshness and spontaneity that is as flamboyant and inflated as the character himself.
A cast headed by Gregory Kunde as a radiant Cellini and Laura Claycomb as a luminescent Teresa ensure that every morsel of Berlioz's imaginative writing has relevance and impact. A punchy LSO Chorus completes the starry line up.
For reasons of scale, this is an opera rarely staged in UK theatres. Hearing this concert version simply whets the appetite to see it staged in all its colourful glory. --Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman, 29 May 2008
As with previous instalments of the London Symphony Orchestra's Berlioz cycle, this recording outshines Davis's version of 40 years ago in sound quality and maturity of interpretation. Berlioz's flamboyant portrait of the Renaissance goldsmith impresses with its sheer vigour and conviction, thanks to Davis's inspiration of orchestra, chorus and a cast led by Gregory Kunde and Laura Claycomb. Including libretto, this is a bargain. --Andrew Clark, Financial Times, 26 April 2008
WHEN the London Symphony Orchestra launched its LSO Live label several years ago, it did so with the magical pairing of Berlioz and Sir Colin Davis. That was a spectacular recording of The Trojans, which epitomised Davis' especial affection for the delicious eccentricities of Berlioz's operatic style. This time, Davis turns his attentions to the joyously unorthodox Benvenuto Cellini in the label's latest blockbuster, and the results are exceptionally good.
There's no escaping the inordinate difficulty of this work, its soaring title role taxing the technique of the greatest lyric tenors, the dazzling unpredictability of the music posing a keen challenge for any orchestra. But Davis has impressive vocal resources to hand, and an LSO on vibrant form to help him.
Right from the start they capture the glorious iridescence of the overture, before unleashing the drama a story based on the adventurous and self-exaggerated life of the 16th-century sculptor Benvenuto Cellini with a freshness and spontaneity that is as flamboyant and inflated as the character himself.
A cast headed by Gregory Kunde as a radiant Cellini and Laura Claycomb as a luminescent Teresa ensure that every morsel of Berlioz's imaginative writing has relevance and impact. A punchy LSO Chorus completes the starry line up.
For reasons of scale, this is an opera rarely staged in UK theatres. Hearing this concert version simply whets the appetite to see it staged in all its colourful glory. --Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman, 29 May 2008
Financial Times (UK), 27 April 2008
`Berlioz's flamboyant portrait of the Renaissance goldsmith impresses with its sheer vigour and conviction, thanks to Davis's inspiration of orchestra, chorus and a cast led by Gergory Kunde Laura Claycomb.'
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is my first introduction to Berlioz's `Benvenuto Cellini'. It is a live concert performance held at the Barbican Hall in June 2007. Like other such recordings on the LSO Live label where the London Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Colin Davis - and I now have the complete Berlioz collection - the sound quality is very good; and yet, as usual, one can hear Davis's cajoling and muttering when hearing the performance on headphones.
According to David Cairns, Berlioz biographer and author of the sleevenotes, this performance uses the original Paris sequence over the later two-act version. It thus returns to its original guise as an opera comique with spoken dialogue. Indeed, the performance is not without its humour, the audience clearly enjoying themselves at various points in the proceedings.
Can the work be classed as coming within the French Grand Opera tradition? Perhaps, but with strong reservations. It is clearly rooted in the Parisian operatic world of the 1830s and has links with the works of Halevy and Meyerbeer, BUT it is also uniquely Berlioz and thus those links can be tenuous.
My two-CD set comes with a complete libretto.
According to David Cairns, Berlioz biographer and author of the sleevenotes, this performance uses the original Paris sequence over the later two-act version. It thus returns to its original guise as an opera comique with spoken dialogue. Indeed, the performance is not without its humour, the audience clearly enjoying themselves at various points in the proceedings.
Can the work be classed as coming within the French Grand Opera tradition? Perhaps, but with strong reservations. It is clearly rooted in the Parisian operatic world of the 1830s and has links with the works of Halevy and Meyerbeer, BUT it is also uniquely Berlioz and thus those links can be tenuous.
My two-CD set comes with a complete libretto.
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