Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Review
Maybe you think you don't need Sir Colin's latest thoughts on Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique? It's his fourth recording after all, but this has all the electricity of a live occasion, with Davis's extraordinary instinct, and the orchestra hanging on his every gesture. No need to worry about recording quality either; perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay it is it doesn't sound like the Barbican. I wish I'd been there...but at least now I know what I missed.
Like This? Try These:
Berlioz: Les Troyens (LSO/Davis)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherezade (Kirov Orchestra/Gergiev)
Debussy: Pélleas et Mélisande (Haitink) --Matt Fernand
Find more reviews on the BBC Music website 
The Guardian
'the LSO are on top form ... you can almost see the instruments dancing under Davis's command.'
'From the ardent passions and fevered imaginings of the first movement on, all the excitement of these performances is captured.'
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Was it Wilde who said that there is nothing so false as approval of that which is approved of? There is of course always another in great music but if you want a symphonic approach backed by superb orchestral playing, Davis is the man to beat. However Berlioz was also a half-loony egotist and if eccentric weirdness is your thing there is a whole range of different interpretations stretching right back to Beecham and before. I only mention this because in a quite separate review (on Beecham's Fantastique) I wondered whether today's customary sophisticated refinement was not perhaps in danger of losing something.
However, there is a bewildering choice of versions out there but if you had to choose one mainstream version it would be difficult to beat Davis's version.
Sir Colin Davis's is regarded as one of today greatest conductors of Berlioz. His new Berlioz cycle had already produced remarkable recordings such as the one on the Les Troyens, winner of the Grammy Awards, 2002. The other recordings include Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict, Romeo et Juliette and La Damnation de Faust. Colin Davis's interpretation had only mastered through the years, his skillful understanding on Berlioz music and his ability to control and to shape the music into the right place make his recordings to one finest in the catalogue.
Colin Davis's first recording with the Concertgebouw Orchestra is also a remarkable one, but I feel that it's the second version, which show greater sense in terms of interpretation and playing. On this version Colin Davis's emerges to draw more essential sounds from his orchestra. In this way he shows his awareness to the importance of delivering Berlioz's special score on the right way, and I admire him for that. Noticed to the incredible strings playing in the dissonant passages in the final movement.
However Colin Davis's hasn't changed his whole tempos through the work, and his two versions clocked almost at a similar times. In both versions Colin Davis's opts for a bit slower tempos then one hear in most versions, but he gauged them very well. The bonus on this disc is the overture for Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict, also a very fine performance. Being recorded during a live performance the sound is also very good, clean and bright.
Overall this is one of the finest recordings out there in the catalogue, a must have for every serious Berlioz collector. Buy it now before it's despair!!
Probably the most disappointing thing is the sound quality - you would think that a modern recording would yield great sound, but it really feels like you're listening to the orchestra through a wall - everything is quiet and muffled. Because of this, it is impossible to sense the energy of the performance. Also, in my version I hear a frequent "creaking" sound, like someone leaning on old floorboards. It is very distracting, and along with the muffled sound makes it really hard to appreciate the music. At the quietest dynamics any musical tension dissolves.
It can't all be blamed on the sound, though. The performance by the LSO fails to lend vitality to the composition, so that it feels like background music rather than something that should occupy your full attention. In my many attempted listens, I have rarely made it past the first movement before moving on to some other more interesting recording.
I'm not sure I'll be getting another version of the Symphonie Fantastique, but if I do it will be either Bernstein's w/ Sony or Munch's w/ RCA, both of which are very highly regarded classic recordings.
Don't take my word for it - If you need a professional critic to dissuade you from this recording check out Classics Today. I only wish I had read that review before wasting my money.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
![DECCA: The Originals [3 of 7]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pnac4WsaL._AA60_.jpg)
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
