Customer Reviews

Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique [Hybrid SACD]

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

 

 

Well RCA has fufilled a couple of my wishes. This recording of
the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique from Munch and the BSO from
1954 is a classic! Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony recorded many of Berlioz's best works for RCA Red Seal, this and the Requiem are some of their best efforts. Munch's 1954
recording is really a romp, at just over 46 minutes you get a really fast performance, but you never get the feeling of being rushed. As icing on the cake, RCA includes the Love Scene from
Romeo et Juliette Op. 17 as a filler, and what a filler! Some of Berlioz's best music. Now perhaps the RCA people will fufill my next wish and issue Erich Leinsdorf's Living Stereo recording
of Mozart's " Don Giovanni" on SACD. Along with Maestro Leinsdorf's recording with the BSO on Richard Strauss's " Ein Heldenleben" . As for this SACD If you don't already have a recording of the Symphonie Fantastique this is a good one to add to your collection!

Charles Munch's performance of this old warhorse to me cannot
be outdone. I have read many glowing reviews of Davis/Concertgebouw,but have never heard it. Maybe someday I
will break down and buy it,but Munch just seems to have the
right idea. I like the sound of the bells in the 4th movement.
Someone told me years back that they were crafted for Munch
per his specifications. With the DSD remastering and SACD the
excitement is even better. Shame on RCA for taking so long to
reissue this treasure.

When I first heard this recording on CD it did not impress me at all. I had already owned the 1962 version by Munch and the Boston symphony on a 1988 gold labeled RCA Victrola CD which had far superior sonics (and performance). The remastering for this SACD has greatly improved the sound - but not enough to displace '62 performance which still sounds better and I still like the performance better. For me the only advantage this cd has over the '62 is the sound and use of the bells. From the March to the Scaffold to the Witches Sabbath the orchestral playing is more intense and visceral in the later performance. The brass in particular in the '54 recording is anemic by comparison but this may be a problem with how it was recorded rather than the performance itself.

The close relationship between Charles Munch and Hector Berlioz, was much more a happy coincidence. The narrow affinity aroused due the sumptuous and elegant baton of this Alsatian conductor, who always knew to depict a gallant and incandescent Berlioz, conferring an aura that transcended the arcane vision of the inflamed Romantic composer, bewitched by his flaming love. This Fantastic remains among the most expressive and refulgent ever recorded. Besides the fact we are talking the Boston Symphony is additionally another important factor to take into account. The European taste emanated by this one thousand carats ensemble and those expressive and radiant strings section was obviously a determining factor that even accented with major blaze the enraptured state of mind of his febrile composer.

Don' t miss this superb version.