Search - Berlioz, John Eliot Gardiner, Anne-Sofie von Otter :: Damnation of Faust

A pass for Gardiner in Berlioz

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/15/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This long-forgotten recording of Berlioz's Faust, taken from two live performances in Lyon in 1987 (applause included), is back online and at Amazon Marketplace. Since I try to keep up with all the new sets, I was curious what Gardiner might do in the period realm. However, that issue is secondary. His conducting is light and small-scaled, which is of interest compared to, say, Solti's blockbuster account form Chicago. Just as interesting is the timbre of the French orchestra. Naturally, if you are not ready for Berlioz lite, the die is cast. The soloists, except for von Otter, are tame.The Edinburgh Festival Chorus is clean-sounding but amateurish compared to the one that sings for Colin Davis's all-but-definitive recording for Philips from 1974.



I only wish that Gardiner himself sounded more professional. Often we catch him simply beating time, and when it comes to building a convincing climax, as in the very opening scene, he seems rather helpless. Sample the Hungarian March, which is more or less lifeless. This literalness wasn't what we needed, if the cause was to bring the Damnation of Faust back from over-heated romantic indulgences. In any event, besides the Davis, there are French-flavored readings from Markevitch and Chung, both on DG, that splendidly fill in the gaps of authenticity. To my astonishment, the Gramohone panned Gardiner's recording, which is like the Irish renouncing whiskey.



Here's the cast list:

Michael Myers (ten) Faust; Jean-Philippe Lafont (bar) Mephistopheles; Anne Sot ie von Otter (mez) Marguerite; Rene Schirrer (bar) Brander; Edinburgh Festival Chorus; Lyon Opera Orchestra / John Eliot Gardiner"