Riccardo Muti, Chicago SO Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Lelio

This double album from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conductor Riccardo Muti was recorded live in September 2010 at Orchestra Hall and produced by Grammy winner David Frost. The Berlioz programme includes the "Symphonie fantastique" and its rarely-recorded sequel, "Lélio", narrated here by French actor Gérard Depardieu, also featuring tenor Mario Zeffiri and bass baritone Kyle Ketelsen.

Recorded in 2010 during Riccardo Muti's first subscription concerts as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's tenth music director, this new double-CD release pairs Hector Berlioz's beloved Symphonie fantastique with its sequel, Lélio, ou le retour de la vie (Lélio, or The Return to Life). Berlioz intended Symphonie fantastique to be followed by Lélio in concert, as the artist returns to life to comment anew on music and art. Maestro Muti and the CSO are joined in Lélio by the acclaimed actor Gérard Depardieu as the narrator, tenor Mario Zeffiri, bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen, and the Chicago Symphony Chorus. With the "conclusion and complement" of Symphonie fantastique, as Berlioz referred to Lélio, this recording increases listeners' familiarity with the music of a daring and revolutionary composer.