Search - Hector Berlioz, Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra :: Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique/ Le Corsaire/ Les Troyens

Stylish and very French-sounding, but the recording is thin

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes classics have to be seen with clear eyes. The French radio orchestra that Beecham conducted in 1959 has a delightful Gallic sound, with its saxophone-like horns and spikey woodwinds, but the ensemble can be slapdash, and EMI's recording, which was always rather thin and shrill, can only be improved so far and no farther. Dozens of recordings have emerged in the last four decades that surpass this one for execution and sonics. What, then, about Beecham's part?



Beecham adored Berlioz and brought to his music a special exuberance and freshness that are hard to dduplicate. On stylistic grounds alone, this CD deserves five stars--there's an impulsiveness about it at times that's unique. Beecham came from an age which admired conducting that freely expressed itself, even wehn drastic liberties were taken with the score. For example, Beecham starts "Un Bal" at a steady loud dynamic, leaving little room for building to a climax. In general he's not interested in nuanced shading; his style is a frontal assault, but with many smiles along the way. He's also more interested in the melodic line than in inner detail.



The March to the Scaffold is a high point--Beecham makes the music genuinely grim, with sudden, scary interjections from the brass. Here he's actually aided by the over-bright recording, which makes sforzando attacks more startling. In the same way, the somewhat raw, coarse playing of the orchestra helps make the Witches' Sabbath more grotesque. We're back to Beecham's own Royal Phil. for the Corsaire Over. and Les Troyens excerpts. These likewise display his unbounded energy and affection for the music.



Many listeners (even some not under the sway of British critics) have found a special magic in this recording, one of the must-listens in the Berlioz discography."