Customer Reviews

Berlioz: La Marseillaise - Love Scene from Roméo & Juliet - The Damnation of Faust, Three Excerpts, etc... / McNair, Leech, Zinman

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On paper at least, this seems like an attractive sampler. And it is, as far as the music is concerned. These bits and pieces are some of the most inspired music from Berlioz's long masterworks for voices and orchestra such as Damnation de Faust, Romeo et Juliette, Les Troyens, and Benvenuto Cellini. In sterling performances, they're really enlivening music. Here, for a variety of reasons, they don't make the impact they usually do. First of all, Zinman, whom I usually admire, doesn't seem to warm up to the music. Maybe it's not his cup of tea--more of a Beethoven-and-contemporary music man, based on the stuff I've heard that he does really well. Also, as recorded here, the Baltimore Symphony doesn't seem to have the heft for Berlioz's dazzling orchestral display. Next to, say, the Montreal Symphony, which has done a lot of this music very successfully on disc, the Baltimore is lacking.

Then, as I suggest, a large part of the problem is the recording. Telarc's legendary recording technique don't seem to translate well to the Meyerhoff Hall, at least not in this recording; there's even some distortion in thickly scored passages. Argo/Decca got the measure of the hall better in their later and far more successful recordings from Baltimore.

So I say, shop around. You'll do far better with Dutoit, Davis, Nagano, Plasson, Nelson, et al.

This is a good CD but not a great one. Mr. Zinman gives a decent rendition of some of the French "classics" and the Baltimore symphony is up to the task. In the defense of Mr. Zinman one must recognize that there is probably no real good way to play Berlioz. But the real value of this CD is to introduce one to Berlioz who still today does not rate as high as one would like; not to mention its status of "only one opus composer" that the Symphonie Fantastique seems to give him sometimes. The inclusion of Berlioz transcription of the Marseillaise is a curious touch. Berlioz tried to dignify what was after all a soldiers motivational anthem to go and kill into a more respectable piece suitable for a serious country. Nice try. However it is still an interesting and hyperactive piece and if we must listen to it on occasion we might as well do it here. In sum, here we have a nice mix that can be played as background music when we need to be energized.

This is a rather boring performance of the Berlioz version of La Marseillaise with poor recording quality. I ended up giving this CD to GoodWill. For the Hector Berlioz version of La Marseillaise, I would recommend the performance by the Chicago Symphony under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. If you are looking for a rousing performance of La Marseillaise (not the Berlioz version), look for the performance by Mireille Mathieu, which you can find on the web.

If you've heard Toscanini's snappy Rakozcy March, then the lumbering version on this disc will just leave you frustrated. The Marseillaise here is pretty turgid, too. Not much else leaves even that much of a lasting impression. Okay if you can get it budget-priced.

Berlioz: La Marseillaise - Love Scene from Roméo & Juliet - The Damnation of Faust, Three Excerpts, etc... / McNair, Leech, Zinman

Really really terrific!

I prefer to do not say more... terrific!