Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Review

If Sir Colin Davis had never been born, Berlioz enthusiasts would've had to invent him. Davis's tireless championing of the maverick Frenchman's complex scores has had an incalculable effect on attitudes to Berlioz...and he's still at it! Even if you can't get to the London Symphony Orchestra's Berlioz Odyssey concerts at the Barbican, it only costs a fiver to share the experience, thanks to the LSO Live label (less than most punters paid for their concert tickets!).

Maybe you think you don't need Sir Colin's latest thoughts on Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique? It's his fourth recording after all, but this has all the electricity of a live occasion, with Davis's extraordinary instinct, and the orchestra hanging on his every gesture. No need to worry about recording quality either; perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay it is it doesn't sound like the Barbican. I wish I'd been there...but at least now I know what I missed.

Like This? Try These:
Berlioz: Les Troyens (LSO/Davis)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherezade (Kirov Orchestra/Gergiev)
Debussy: Pélleas et Mélisande (Haitink)