The Berliners are dazzling, but Rattle fails to tell a story
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/06/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The road to ennui is paved with good intentions. This new 'Symphonie fantastique' resolutely avoids melodrama and vulgarity. Rattle attends to Berlioz's score with meticulous detailing, like a caretaker dusting off precious enamels. Frankly, I think his attentions are somewhat misplaced -- Berlioz's symphonic masterpiece is a sturdy old thing. Handling it with more roughness, or real passion, wouldn't have broken it.
That said, the Berliners play with astonishing ensemble and finesse, far exceeding their most notable past effort, under Karajan on DG, one of the conductor's rare total misses. The playing is aristocratic but natural. Rattle goes quite lightly on the rubato -- clearly he feels that Berlioz deserves a pristine hearing. "Un bal" begins with harps so delicate that the dancers are in mid-air rather than on solid ground. The 'Scene aux champs" is equally dreamy, the march to the scaffold so grand that it could be a state procession. The witches come to their sabbath in designer wear -- there are no squealing clarinets or gritty violins rapping like dry bones sul ponticello. Every sound effect is muted beneath a blanket of good taste.
I'm glad that EMI has the gumption to try and build their own Berlin Phil. discography in the face of the mountainous one that Karajan ammased on DG, but too many releases under Rattle have been also-rans when it comes to standard repertoire. The orchestra is doing its part, but he falls short. Strange for such an intelligent and gifted conductor. In the end, the drawback of this beautifully wrought 'Symphonie fantastique' is that it doesn't tell a story, the one thing Berlioz insists upon.
P.S. - In a perfect case of the tail wagging the dog, Rattle's account of 'Mort de Cleopatre' is stunning. No other version comes close for orchestral sumptuousness, and although Susan Graham lacks the ultimate dramatic involvement of a Janet Baker, she's quite wonderful in the vocal part."
Susan Graham a treasure
Irene Cross | New Zealand | 09/19/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Susan Graham is a joy to hear. I had to have this recording after hearing her at the Proms this year.
It is never too late to discover a new passion. The voice of Susan Graham introduced me to opera, and through her I have found so many other wonderful voices. My days are filled with music.Berlioz - Les Troyens / Graham, Antonacci, Kunde, Tezier, Naouri, Pokupic, Gardiner, Chatelet Opera"
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1