Limited 27 CD box. Hector Berlioz, France's greatest Romantic composer, exemplifies the spirit of his age - yet his genius was also ahead of it's time. Reflecting his colorful life, his music is astonishing for it's originality and ambition, and for orchestration of groundbreaking brilliance. This, the first-ever complete Berlioz edition, comprises carefully selected recordings and even includes works completely new to the catalogue. The accompanying booklet, lavishly illustrated, contains a fascinating commentary from Berlioz biographer David Cairns, whose words bring the composer's music still more vividly to life. Key points: #1 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of Hector Berlioz's death. Born in 1803 in La C�te-Saint-Andr� near Lyon, he died in Paris on 8th March 1869. #2 The first-ever complete Berlioz edition - Following the major success of Warner Classics' complete Debussy edition. #3 A wealth of milestone recordings and multi-award winners � Carefully selected from the Warner Classics, Erato and Universal catalogues and spanning more than 60 years, from 1956 to 2018, including 2017's multi-award winner recording of Les Troyens by John Nelson. #4 A number of world premiere recordings � The set contains a number of works recorded for the very first time, most notably the surviving fragments of the unfinished opera La Nonne sanglante, recorded live in 2018.

When Deutschlandfunk and Musikfest Bremen first approached me to produce a CD with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, I faced the unique challenge of choosing a programme that resonated strongly with me and had a significant historical connection. Although I am half German and half Italian, I was quickly drawn to the personal ties I have with French music. I wanted to present works by young composers that had a strong impact on the history of music and pieces that offer the audience a rich, diverse soundscape. Therefore, I chose two French composers who are personally significant to me for various reasons.

The Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and it's Music Director Rafael Payare explore Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique and Le carnaval romain - two works that reveal the composer's flair for drama, colour, and psychological intensity. In Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz charts the delirious inner world of an artist undone by passion, hallucination, and obsession. From dreamy reveries to a diabolical witches' sabbath, the symphony is a milestone of musical storytelling. Paired with the exhilarating Le carnaval romain, this album captures Berlioz at his most imaginative and uncompromising. In a special touch, the performance of Symphonie fantastique features OSM's two newly acquired carillon bells - G and C - that expand the orchestra's sonic palette and bring striking brilliance to Berlioz's original vision. After their acclaimed PENTATONE recordings of Mahler's Fifth Symphony (2023), Ruckert-Lieder and Strauss's Ein Heldenleben (2024), and Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande & Verklarte Nacht (2024), Payare and the orchestra continue their compelling exploration of Romantic repertoire with this vivid Berlioz program.

When 23-year-old Hector Berlioz saw Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" on stage for the first time in 1827, he was deeply moved by the experience, probably not least because of the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, who played Juliet. She became Berlioz's wife in 1833, and another six years later he completed his chorus-symphony "Romeo et Juliette", Op. 17. "Romeo et Juliette" is by no means intended as an attempt to transpose Shakespeare's drama as faithfully as possible; not a single verse of Shakespeare's text was included in the libretto, which was written by the poet emile Deschamps based on Berlioz's drafts. When the Prologue refers to Shakespeare as the only person who knew the highest secret of poetry, it is clear that the listener is deliberately placed in Berlioz's perspective, whose imagination is ignited by Shakespeare's genius. As in the case of the "Harold" symphony based on Byron, Berlioz adapts the original very freely. In both cases, he develops entire movements from episodes that are of only minor importance in the poem and adds scenes that do not appear there at all. The present live recording from 1982 showcases Gary Bertini at the peak of his career, conducting the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra of the SWR. An exquisite cast of singers - Alfreda Hodgson, Philip Langridge and John Shirley-Quirk - as well as internationally renowned choirs like the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the SWR Vokalensemble (known until 1998 as Sudfunk-Chor) accompany him in the performance of one of the most complex symphonic works of the Romantic era.

8CD/1DVD.

2CD/1BRA.

'Wine, blood, joy and rage mingle in mutual intoxication and make music together' was Berlioz's (impractical) description of the finale of Harold in Italy. He would surely have rejoiced in this impassioned performance from Lawrence Power, Andrew Manze and the Bergen Philharmonic.

This recital by Jean-Francois Borras honours the fascinating history of the Opera de Monte-Carlo, the house that has performed more French repertoire than any other. Jean-Francois Borras, who received his initial training in the choir of the Monte-Carlo Cathedral and is an internationally-renowned ambassador of French vocal style, presents excerpts from works by Mascagni, Gunsbourg and Massenet that were composed for the Opera there. Raoul Gunsbourg was the director of the Opera de Monte Carlo (architect Charles Garnier) from 1893-1951 and the variety of his programming created the institution's exceptional renown. Borras sings arias from operas that he has performed on the stage of the Opera de Monte-Carlo, including Romeo et Juliette (Gounod), Manon, Herodiade, Werther (Massenet), Carmen (Bizet) and Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach), accompanied by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo under Pierre Dumoussaud, a young French conductor and specialist in operatic repertoire who is rapidly building an international career.

TOSCANINI COLLECTION VOL 39 -

BERLIOZ: SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

BERLIOZ: HAROLD IN ITALY, ETC

A classic recording of a classic pairing of French song cycles. Composed some 60 years apart, Berlioz's Les Nuits d'�t� and Ravel's Sh�h�razade both visit romantic, mysterious and exotic locations, evoking a wealth of moods and sensations. Janet Baker, an irresistible storyteller, is accompanied on her journey by Sir John Barbirolli, conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra with sensitivity and imagination.

Hector Berlioz, France's greatest Romantic composer, exemplifies the spirit of his age - yet his genius was also ahead of it's time. Reflecting his colourful life, his music is astonishing for it's originality and ambition, and for orchestration of groundbreaking brilliance. � J'ai la passion de la passion. � � L'amour et la musique sont les deux ailes de l'�me. � Berlioz "I have a passion for passion." "Love and music are the soul's two wings." Berlioz

The second disc of this release includes interviews.

SOMM recordings is delighted to release Frankly Speaking with Leopold Stokowski, which gives rare insight into the legendary maestro through live recordings of a performance, a rehearsal, and an interview. The CD features Stokowski conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and soprano Gloria Lane in a performance of El amor brujo by Manuel de Falla at the Royal Albert Hall on 15 September 1964; a rehearsal of El amor brujo and Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra at the War Memorial Opera House on 19 December 1952; and a Frankly Speaking BBC Home Service interview with Stokowski answering questions put to him by John Bowen, Reginald Jacques, and George Scott at the BBC Studios in London on 25 August 1959. Leopold Stokowski's unorthodox seating arrangements, his flexibility regarding free individual string bowings, his emphasis on vibrato and tone, and his idiosyncratic baton-less conducting technique, were some of the practical elements that defined his popularity and his uniquely lush sound-coupled with allowing himself free reign to alter details of the musical text in his performances. Yet there remains a highly elusive element in the art of a great conductor. The rehearsal presented on this release provides a glimpse into Stokowski's creative process. One the one hand, he was fastidiously detailed and precisely demanding to the point of being draconian, but he also admired and encouraged an element of spontaneity, and even improvisation, within the framework of his extreme insistence on precision. The performance of El amor brujo-one of Stokowski's favourite compositions-was recorded at a BBC Promenade concert, and provides a stellar example of the effect that he was able to achieve through his singular and charismatic approach to making music. The extended interview, heard here for the first time since it's original radio broadcast in 1959, illustrates the brilliant repartee, levity, and charm of which this extraordinary musician was capable. Through the breadth of his public success-including his appearance in the film Fantasia and, even more significantly, his recordings as the Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which he led from 1912 to 1936-Leopold Stokowski reached a more wide-ranging audience than was typical for classical music in his day, and did much to debunk the perception that classical music is "elitist." Together, Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra racked up international sales figures that were unprecedented for orchestral discs, attracted a far-reaching following, and captivated an audience that ranged from classical music newcomers to some of his most celebrated fellow musicians.

BERLIOZ: HAROLD EN ITALIE, LA

Some of Boulez's finest Berlioz performances are gathered together in this very welcome compendium. Symphonie fantastique is given a terrifyingly formidable performance.

Some of Boulez's finest Berlioz performances are gathered together in this very welcome compendium. Not the least of the pleasures is the association of the Symphonic Fantastique with its pendant Lelio: they are not a required coupling, of course, but there is a special pleasure in hearing the unforgettable tones of Jean-Louis Barrault (he who once memorably played Berlioz on film) as he revives after the drug-induced nightmare. Barrault speaks so beautifully that the ramshackle concoction of some very mixed inspirations becomes a rich Berliozian experience. The symphony is given a formidable performance, terrifyingly formidable in the measured tread of the "March to the Scaffold", somewhat too much so where the waltz should charm, even if ironically, and making a morose landscape of the "Scene aux champs". But it is a sustained and valid performance which does not seek to make the work into a vehicle for personal virtuosity (as in different ways so many conductors have done), and conjures up Berlioz's dark romantic vision.

As can be seen, the Nuits d'ete songs are shared. Berlioz first wrote them for mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano, then rewriting them to some extent and transposing the first three for the orchestral vision, probably because he then had particular singers in mind or each song. Boulez keeps to the orchestral version of the key sequence (which not all do) and divides them equally between male and female voices. So Stuart Burrows sings a fresh. lively "Villanelle", and this is followed by Yvonne Minton's richly phrased "Spectre de la rose" and "Sur les lagunes" (in which she takes, successfully, the option of a low F). Burrows returns for "Absence", which he sings admirably, though without stifling regrets that this of all songs might have suited Minton and the mezzo-soprano timbre (many will remember Janet Baker here). He also sings "Au cimetiere", leaving Minton to finish the cycle off with her warm performance of "L'ile inconnue". There can be no question or an authentic version when Berlioz left so many options open; this is a compromise, and even if one may have other preferences, it works well. Yvonne Minton goes on to show not only a fine voice but fine musicianship as she sustains Boulez in holding La mort de Cleopatre together so well. Berliozians will recognize one or two familiar ideas in this remarkable piece. notably one that was to serve again in Benvenuto Cellini, whose overture is given a sharp, vigorous performance here.

-- Gramophone [3/1995]

When Berlioz's revolutionary milestone is paired with ballet music by Toshiro Mayuzumi from 1962, unexpected similarities in sound, power and inspiration emerge. Andrea Battistoni conducts the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in this enigmatic performance

*** This title is a reissue of a Japanese release with liner notes in Japanese. ***

This latest issue in APR's ongoing French Piano School series is perhaps the most important yet. The set brings together some of the earliest and rarest piano recordings ever made, not just in France, but worldwide, and includes the complete solo recordings of all the pianists featured except Wurmser. Many are reissued for the first time. The French office of the Gramophone Company was a pioneer in bringing serious artists into the studio and the results are a legacy of the utmost historical importance. So too are the early Fonotipia recordings of the only Herz pupil to record, Roger-Miclos, and the later Columbia electric recordings of Plante, made in his 90th year. With Saint-Saens, Diemer and Plante we can hear pianists who were born in the first half of the 19th century - a unique window into the past. The latest digital technology has been applied throughout and, amongst other improvements, we are now able to hear Pugno's wonderful recordings, hitherto flawed by a notorious vibrato caused by the unstable recording turntable used in 1903, with their pitch stabilized.

Classical Music

NUITS D'ETE

The conductor Herbert Kegel had an instinctive flair for unravelling sound to fill space and thus made full use of the exceptional acoustics of the Lukaskirche in Dresden, which became his regular recording studio (for the Eterna label). The challenge there was to achieve a finely balanced fusion of sound and complete audibility in the tutti sections – after all, Herbert Kegel never aspired to the opulence associated with Karajan. One might say that the composition has been put under an acoustic magnifying glass to bring out details that are little appreciated (e.g. secondary parts that are often overlooked). Although Kegel’s finely nuanced style aims to develop contrasts of both sound and dynamics, his agogics never appear arbitrary but always in line with the formal progression of the music. It is clear from the track list that this re-released recording is one of the slowest in his discography, not that this is at all noticeable at any stage of the listening experience: one might say that the composition has been put under an acoustic magnifying glass to bring out details that are little appreciated (e.g. secondary parts that are often overlooked). Although Kegel’s finely nuanced style aims to develop contrasts of both sound and dynamics, his agogics never appear arbitrary but always in line with the formal progression of the music.

Also available on Blu-ray

Hector Berlioz
LES TROYENS

Énée – Lance Ryan
Chorèbe – Gabriele Viviani
Panthée – Giorgio Giuseppini
Narbal – Stephen Milling
Iopas – Eric Cutler
Ascagne – Oksana Shilova
Cassandre – Elisabete Matos
Didon – Daniele Barcellona
Anna – Zlata Bulycheva

Valencia Regional Government Choir (Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana)
Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana)
Valery Gergiev, conductor

La Fura dels Baus, staging
Carlus Padrissa, stage director
Ronald Olbeter, stage designer
Peter van Praet, lighting designer
Chu Uroz, costume designer

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofia”, Valencia, Spain, 2009.

Bonus:
- The making of Les Troyens

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: French, English, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 240 mins (opera) + 21 mins (documentary)
No. of DVDs: 2 (DVD 9)

"Ancient myth meets Star Wars, and the eye is constantly engaged with images ranging from space-age technology to details of soccer uniforms." The New York Times

"This is a worthy and compelling, glittering version of a sublime work." International Herald Tribune

Classical Music