Gramophone – September 2019

52 GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 gramophone.co.uk

ORCHESTRAL REVIEWS

Berlioz

Symphoniefantastique,Op14.

Lélio,ouLeretourà lavie,Op 14 ba

aCyrilleDuboistenaFlorianSempeybar

aJean-PhilippeLafontnarraViennaSingverein;

ViennaSymphonyOrchestra/ PhilippeJordan

WienerSymphonikerMb

WS020(90’• DDD• T/t)

RecordedliveattheMusikverein,Vienna,

November 10 &11, 2018

Berlioz

Symphoniefantastique,Op14.Lélio,ou

Leretourà lavie,Op 14 b– Fantaisiesur

laTempêtedeShakespearea

aTorontoMendelssohnChoir;Toronto

SymphonyOrchestra/ SirAndrewDavis

ChandosFÍCHSA5239(70’• DDD/DSD• T/t)

Atthetimeofwriting,onlineresearch

aboutthesetwoworksledonestraight

toecstaticreviewsoftheMay 2019

PhilharmoniedeParisconcertby

François-XavierRothandLesSiècles

(stillavailabletowatchonthevenue’s

websiteandhopefullyslatedforaDVD

release). Their Lélio made at least a

conservative attempt at staging the work

according to Berlioz’s instructions –

although ignoring his wish that the only

personactuallyseenuntiltheendshould

bethenarrator,notthemusicians.It

makesahugedifference.Withoutthis

dynamic,Lélio–trulyasemi-staged

symphonicworkinwhichthepresence

ofanactoranddramaisintentionally

asradicalastheentryofvoiceswasin

BeethovenNinth–can,intruth,be

ratherdullonrecord(andtherearenow

atleastfivecompetingversions).Itisnot

helpedbythetemptationofmostofthe

chosennarratorstosoundlikeTheArt

ofCoarseActing’sguidetoShakespeare–

speakasifaddressingashipinfog,and

artificiallystresseverythirdsyllable.Only

onRiccardoMuti’sCSOperformance

doesGérardDepardieu(thebestnarrator

todateondisc)avoidthisroute.

PhilippeJordanplaysLéliocomplete.He

ignorestwospecificBerliozinstructions,

takingasinger(Jean-PhilippeLafont)

ratherthananactorforhisnarratorand

usingthesametenorforboththeGoethe

balladandthe‘Chantdebonheur’.Buthe

getstheViennaSingvereintomanageboth

FrenchandtheItalianoftheconcluding

TempestFantasy–whichhebuildsto

acrackingclimax–quitewell.Lafont,

however,seemstopreferShakespearean

dreaminesstopoisonedmentalneurosis;

weforgetherethatLélioisBerlioz.As

forLélioontheChandosrecording,

Sir Andrew Davis goes one step further

than his namesake Sir Colin, omitting not

just the entire narration but all the music

apart from the final Fantasy. It makes for

A BERLIOZ BONANZA

Focus

Mike Ashman hears the evergreen Symphonie fantastique

and the rarely heard Lélio on a contrasting pair of new recordings

Expertly played: Philippe Jordan and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra oer richly detailed Berlioz

a nice bonne bouche on disc, although

the recording quality is a little strange,

the choir living at first in a trebly haze

that makes them sound somewhere

else altogether.

Jordan’s handling of the symphony

is competitive in the Fantastique’s now

overcrowded catalogue. It’s expertly played

and sounds well in the Goldener Saal of the

city’s Musikverein. Without offering either

‘original’ instruments or interpretations

influenced by them, his reading reflects

carefully rehearsed thought about the

work’s drama and instrumental colours.

It’s a slight pity that the performance

reaches such a peak in its moodily dark

‘Scène aux champs’ (with the most

forthright timpani and wind dialogues)

as to make the final two movements feel

anticlimactic. Earlier the conductor’s

quest for detail – including the lengths

of pauses – makes his first movement

something of a stop-go affair, while ‘Un

bal’ is more notable for wind detail than

the sway of the dance floor. But, as what

an American colleague of mine would

term an ‘unobjectionably centrist’ view

of the piece, it has real merits.

The Davis Toronto reading is also one

of clear intelligence. Like Jordan, Davis

has the distinct advantage for this score

of considerable experience in opera. He

handles all the work’s sections with due

clarity and purpose as to their place in the

autobiographical story. I only wish for a

little more pizzazz in the playing – ‘the

miracle of fire and beauty’ that a 1930s critic

(was it Neville Cardus?) once described in

Sir Thomas Beecham’s performance of

one of the Berlioz overtures – and perhaps

in the recording too, which is clear but

rather lacking in depth.

Neither of these two newcomers would

join my shortlist of ‘great’ recordings of

the symphony. These remain, perhaps

disappointingly, the same as I found in my

July 2007 Collection, with pride of place

going to the much-neglected Minkowski

disc – with its mix of old and ‘new’

orchestras – and plaudits aplenty for

Gardiner, Norrington and Beecham.

I hope we get that Roth/Les Siècles

concert and, perhaps, a new Gardiner. If

you want Lélio for its own sake, the Muti

should satisfy, although the Fantastique is

notsocompelling.

Lélio – selected comparisons:

LSO, C Davis (12/97) (PHIL) D 478 9299

Chicago SO, Muti (11/15) (CSO) CSOR9011501

Symphonie fantastique – selected comparison:

Mahler CO, Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski

(DG) D 474 209-2GH