Berlioz Carnevale Romano

Berlioz's most familiar work is almost impossible to conduct with a fresh approach or to hear with fresh ears. I am grateful to this masterful Russian conductor, who has total control over the orchestra, for renewing my love of the Symphonie fantastique. Except for portions of the waltz in Un Bal that Temirkanov plays too straight, almost every bar is infused with unusual phrasing, balance, and pace. The last two movements are rambunctious and visceral. The pastoral third movement is very slow but so controlled and perfectly phrased that it held my attention throughout. It and the first movement are high points. If you want an unusal Ftantastique that owes nothing to French tradition, this one with a Russian accent is well worth hearing.

The Greek-born Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896–1960) was incredibly gifted – his photographic memory allowed him to conduct without a score in concert and also in rehearsal! After studies in Athens, Brussels and Berlin, he took various posts in Greece. In 1930, Mitropoulos played the solo part in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.3 with the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted the work from the keyboard, becoming the first modern musician to do so. He made his US debut in 1936 and went on to become principal conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (1937–1949) and then music director of the New York Philharmonic (1951–1957), where he was eventually succeeded by Leonard Bernstein. He expanded the repertoire of the NYPO and championed Mahler’s symphonies in particular.

The BR-KLASSIK label is now taking the 75th anniversary of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) in 2024 as an opportunity to make previously unreleased recordings of concerts that are worth listening to available on CD and as a stream for the first time. Hector Berlioz's passionate "Symphonie fantastique", the almost revolutionary symphonic masterpiece by the great French composer, was performed by Colin Davis with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at Munich’s Philharmonie im Gasteig on January 15 and 16, 1987.

Liszt first met Hector Berlioz in Paris before the premiere of the Symphonie fantastique in 1830 and at first their mutual esteem was unbounded. Liszt proceeded to transcribe the music of his friend and two movements from his innovative transcription of the whole of the Symphonie are heard in this recording. Each transcription reveals a different facet of Liszt’s art, from the faithful reflection of the concert overture King Lear through the dramatic panache of the popular overture to Les Francs-Juges to the beautiful Pilgrims’ March from Harold en Italie.

Hector Berlioz - Requiem
Boston Symphony Orchestra - Charles Munch
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 3,60 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 1,57 GB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA "Living Stereo" # 82876-66373-2 | Country/Year: Europe 2005, 1959
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic

…This is a performance that holds your attention from first note to last–a rare feat in this work. (Munch's later Deutsche Grammophon effort pales by comparison, both sonically and interpretively.) If you want this Berlioz Requiem (and you do), SACD is the way to hear it.

In his Symphonie fantastique, the young Berlioz bared his soul in music, torturing himself with passion — some might say obsession — for his beloved. Through tender love scenes, a thrilling march to the scaffold, and an opium-induced nightmare, Berlioz’s riveting masterpiece is unforgettable.

Berlioz - Harold in Italy and Other Orchestral Works (2018) {Hyperion CDA68193}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 247 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 164 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 76 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2018 Hyperion Records | CDA68193
Classical / Romantic / Orchestral

This is a sensational disc - an exploration of Berlioz such as few others offer. The viola sound of Lawrence Power has a lot to do with it - it is such a beautiful sound, so close to actual singing, that as soon as he plays it is as if Harold himself is expressing his feelings directly; added to this, the orchestra is of unusual brilliance under Andrew Manze's direction. The range of sounds is thrilling, bringing together all these landscapes as vividly as any art can. Harold en Italie is an amazing score, but one that has suffered a certain neglect, even though viola concertos from the 19th century are so thin on the ground.

The San Francisco Symphony under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas performs one of the most astounding symphonies in the repertoire, the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. What presumption by this 26-year-old French composer, to think that he could write and produce (he personally hired the players) a massive five-movement symphony! Strange things happen when presumption is matched by genius: the young man created an enduring masterpiece that is still fresh and exciting today, nearly 200 years later…