Search - Berlioz :: Romeo & Juliet

A classic recording of the Boston S.O. at their finest

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 02/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording has long been unavailable except through licenced re-issues available at reasonable cost via Amazon Marketplace. I got to know it thirty years ago and have always admired it above all for the beauty of the orchestral playing and the quality of the soloists. All three are stand-outs but José Van Dam takes the palm for making Friar Lawrence so involving by dint of both vivid characterisation and peerless singing, when sometimes his concluding "récitatif et air" can be a bore. The filigree lightness of this enchanting score is enhanced by the startling grace and precision of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Ozawa launches into the Allegro fugato of the Introduction at a terrific lick but they are with him all the way. I always respect the Santa Fe listener's views but having listened carefully to this old favourite in comparison to, for example, the fine version by Inbal with the Frankfurt Radio Sinfonie, I hear no lack of passion in the Scène d'amour. It is certainly played "carefully" but only in the positive sense; Ozawa builds to a climax which is both rapturous and ominous. The only other version I have enjoyed as much is another DG recording by Maazel with the Vienna Philharmonic, Christa Ludwig, Michel Sénéchal and Nicolai Ghiaurov - but sadly that has never been issued on CD. No other versions come close to these two, though I like the Inbal, which is unfussy, sensitively played and very well sung. Many admire Colin Davis' earliest version, now rather elderly of sound and a little scrappy. The second has the disadvantages associated with live recordings and few of the benefits. I certainly would not touch the much-vaunted Dutoit, which lacks warmth and is woefully undercast. The third and latest Davis LSO live recording has the same problem; it is also rather dull and recorded in dry sound.



So this is the set for me. However, while the Maazel remains in the Polygram vaults, you might wish to consider the 11 disc bargain "Hector Berlioz Edition" from Brilliant, which gives you seven excellent performances of major Berlioz works, all conducted con amore by Inbal."