Composer: Hector Berlioz
Orchestra: Wiener Symphoniker
Conductor: Philippe Jordan
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Wiener Symphoniker
Catalogue: WS020
Release: 2019
Size: 1.79 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
01. I. Rêveries – Passions
02. II. Un bal
03. III. Scène aux champs
04. IV. Marche au supplice
05. V. Songe d’une nuit de sabbat
Lélio ou Le retour à la vie, Monodrame lyrique op. 14b
06. Narration. Dieu! Je vis encore
07. I. Le pêcheur
08. Narration. Étrange persistance d’un souvenir!
09. II. Chœur d’ombres
10. Narration. Ô Shakespeare!
11. III. Chanson de brigands
12. Narration. Comme mon esprit flotte incertain!
13. IV. Chant de bonheur – Hymne
14. Narration. Oh! Que ne puis-je la trouver
15. V. La harpe éolienne – Souvenirs
16. Narration. Mais pourquoi m’abandonner à ces dangereuses illusions?
17. VI. Fantaisie sur “La tempête” de Shakespeare
18. Narration. Assez pour aujourd’hui! – Coda. Allegro meno mosso
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Hector Berlioz’s death, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Philippe Jordan dedicated a programmatic focus to the French composer in the 2018-19 season. In this context, in November 2018, Philippe Jordan presented the frequently performed Symphonie fantastique op. 14 in the Wiener Musikverein, her rarely heard sister work Lélio ou Le retour à la vie op. 14b. The acclaimed concert experience now also appears as a live recording on the orchestra’s own label of the orchestra. Soloists include not only tenor Cyrille Dubois and baritone Florian Sempey, but also the acclaimed French bass Jean- Philippe Lafonte as narrator and the Singverein led by Johannes Prinz.
It’s from Vienna, not Paris, that this new recording of the Symphonie fantastique is brought to us under the direction of Philippe Jordan. The Swiss conductor wears several hats, since he is the musical director of the Paris Opera and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, with whom he conducted this Berliozian recording at the Musikverein in Vienna.
The year of Berlioz (2019 marks 150 years since his death) saw many new versions of the Fantastique cropping up. This album stands out through its coupling with Lélio, ou Le Retour à la vie, a work which, according to Berlioz, “must be heard immediately after the Symphonie Fantastique, of which it is the end and the complement”. As an extraordinary autobiographical work, Lélio is accompanied by a monologue read by an actor; here, it is the ex-singer and actor Jean-Philippe Lafont who represents Berlioz as he struggles to overcome his despair. It’s a deep reflection under the auspices of Shakespeare as well as a mise en abyme of the life of an artist facing up to his demons.