Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

Hector Berlioz (Composer), Colin Davis (Conductor), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Orchestra)

Product Details

• Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
• Conductor: Colin Davis
• Composer: Hector Berlioz
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000040W2
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #170,856 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphonie fantastique for orchestra ('Episode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties'), H.48 (Op. 14): Visions and passions

2. Symphonie fantastique for orchestra ('Episode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties'), H.48 (Op. 14): Un bal: Valse, Allegro non t

3. Symphonie fantastique for orchestra ('Episode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties'), H.48 (Op. 14): Scene au champ, Adagio

4. Symphonie fantastique for orchestra ('Episode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties'), H.48 (Op. 14): Marche au supplice, Allegro

5. Symphonie fantastique for orchestra ('Episode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties'), H.48 (Op. 14): Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Sir Colin Davis's 1974 account of the Symphonie fantastique with the Concertgebouw Orchestra has ranked among the best since the day it was made: refined, sensitive, and full of passionate reverie, it's a high-voltage performance that never seems overdriven. Avoiding the tendency of many conductors to treat the work in episodic terms, Davis presides over a reading that is sustained by a firm sense of structure and argument. He elicits fine playing from the Concertgebouw orchestra, whose combination of chamberlike delicacy in the strings, characterful work in the winds, and brilliant brass is virtually ideal. The recording is superb--textures emerge clearly in a spacious setting, with good perspective. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very Fine...But Not the Reference Standard, March 30, 1999

By	Douglas Beckerman (Sherman Oaks, California USA) - See all my reviews

It seems to be the consensus of music reviewers around the world that THIS is the recording of the Symphonie to own. I have to respectfully part with that orthodoxy. While Davis coaxes some very fine playing from the world-class Dutch musicians, the reading seems a little musty to my ears. The interpretation that gets the blood racing (and that's what this music is all about) is the 1968 Bernstein/NY Philharmonic [NOT his 1961 first recording and DEFINITELY not Bernstein's abominable 70's recording with the French National Orchestra]. Regrettably, this recording on Sony/Columbia is now out of print. The conductor and orchestra are in total synch on this potboiler and the audio engineering is excellent. The execution (particularly in the March to the Scaffold and Witch's Sabbath) is utterly hair-raising. If you can find this in the cut-out bins, GRAB IT! No finer recording has been made in the last 30 years.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bunk to the reviewer below, August 26, 2000

By	popom "popom" (Fairfield, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This is the best version out there, and I've heard several, including the OOP Bernstein - you can't get better than this; not the most generous CD with 55 minutes and no coupling, but worth every penny.