Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Lelio, Tristia

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CD Details

Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2001-11-13
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:

Music CD 1

Symphonie fantastique, op. 14: Reveries
Symphonie fantastique, op. 14: Un bal
Symphonie fantastique, op. 14: Scene aux champs
Symphonie fantastique, op. 14: Marche au supplice
Symphonie fantastique, op. 14: Songe d'une nuit du sabbat

Music CD 2

Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Narration
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Le Pecheur
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Narration
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Choeur d'ombres
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Narration
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Chanson de brigands
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Narration
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Chant de bonheur/Hymne
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Narration
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: La Harpe eolinne/Souvenirs
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Narration
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Fantaisie sur la Tempete de
Lelio, ou Le Retour a la vie, op. 14b: Narration and Coda
Tristia, op. 18: Meditation religieuse
Tristia, op. 18: La Mort d'Ophelie: Ballade
Tristia, op. 18: Marche funebre pour la derniere scene d'Hamlet

Music reviews of Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Lelio, Tristia

Music Review: Five Stars for Lelio
Rating: 5 Stars

Charles Dutoit is--make no mistake--a great Berliozian. If you want to hear him at his best, I suggest his indespensable CD of Berlioz Overtures, or the CD "Huit Scenes de Faust" containing Berlioz rarities.

On this Double-CD set we get the Symphonie Fantastique, Lelio (the sequel), and Tristia (from around the same time).

Symphonie Fantastique: this is not a bad version, unlike what some will say. But it isn't a great one either. Dutoit gives the music lots of breathing room. It'd be wrong to say he misses a note, since he seems to linger over them so much. So its strength is also its weakness: this Fantastique lacks momentum and swing, while it does well on rhythm and color. It's not a boring version, just a patient one.

Tristia: Again, here is a fairly well known Berlioz work that Dutoit brings off well to a certain degree. As with the symphony, it has the essential French lilt, lots of breathing room for the phrases---but ultimately what it lacks is a sense of drama. The 'Meditation religieuse' works well enough, but 'La morte d'ophelie' sounds too happy and vibrant to fit the subject. The march scene for Hamlet is OK, but only that. If you want to hear a Tristia to convince you of its greatness and power, go for Boulez's with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Lelio, Ou La Retour A La Vie: This is, a lot of people say, a strange work. But I find it typical of Berlioz in that it integrates orchestral and choral elements. How many Berlioz works do that? Most! It does employ a narrator, which some might find uncomfortable to listen to (I don't, personally. I enjoy it). I can rate this version well because it is the only complete one I have. Suffice it to say, I don't find there's anything missing in orchestral playing or singing. The work's final piece is called "Fantasia after Shakespeare's The Tempest." It was a piece composed prior to the rest of Lelio; unddoubtedly Berlioz knew he was saving the best for last when he placed it at the end. It's one of hist most fantastical and exciting pieces. Though if you own Michael Tilson Thomas' Sym. Fan. for RCA, you'll hear a version of the Tempest Fantasia that is a bit more rousing and exciting. Really, there is nothing so "strange" about this work that you won't enjoy it. I'd say it was one of Berlioz's most accessible pieces for those unfamiliar with him. What's strange is that more conductors known for their Berlioz don't record it.

Try it out, you'll like it.

More Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Lelio, Tristia free music reviews:
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Description of Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Lelio, Tristia

Lélio is a strange work, a 50-minute piece for narrator, orchestra, chorus, and vocal soloists. Written as a sequel to the Symphonie Fantastique, it weaves in the idée fixe theme of that work, and its monologues exude the hyper-Romantic sensibility of the lone artist haunted by his fantasies. The narrator's text today reads (and sounds) pretty silly but without it, Lélio becomes a miscellaneous collection of short pieces, each worth hearing, as is anything by Berlioz, but not adding up to more than a repertory curiosity. Tristia consists of three short works published together in 1852, but written separately between 1831 and 1844. The middle piece, "La Mort d'Ophélie," is better known in its original version for voice and piano. Here, a later version for chorus and orchestra is used. Tristia closes with a funeral march illustrating the last scene of Hamlet. Disc One is given over to a reissue of Dutoit's 1985 release of the Symphonie Fantastique, a warm performance that lacks the fantasy of older favorites like Munch and Paray, but is less strait-laced than classically oriented versions such as Colin Davis's. Berlioz fans will want the set for the lesser-known works; others may want to hear them in company with Dutoit's decently done Fantastique. --Dan Davis

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