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I was pleasantly surprised by one of my latest Pentatone SACD's to arrive, the Berlioz Sf and King Lear Overture with Janowski and the Pittsburgh SO from 2010. It's got a lot more life in it than many other recent recordings of the Sf I've heard and in fact compares well with such classics as Paray and Munch IMHO. Lots of arresting accentuation in this in-concert performance, and the Soundmirror engineering keeps the instrumental placement very consistent, with an impressive deep bass which nevertheless remains extremely clear. (I'm not always a fan of Soundmirror's efforts, but this one seems great.) A couple of posters on Amazon hear this performance as somewhat mellow, but I don't hear it that way at all - there's a lot of audible detail in the performance which, nevertheless, does not sound unnaturally pushed forward by the conductor (or by the engineers - who, I suspect, used lots of microphones, as is so common in "live" recordings these days!). In addition, Janowski's performance of the "King Lear" Overture is the best I've ever heard of that work bar none - incredibly clear textures and nuanced phrasing are combined with the sometimes revelatory balances of a conductor who also seems to know how to impart, when necessary, the feverish energy which Berlioz' music needs! I also looked up Dave's review on Classics Today, and, what do you know - we agree on this recording (10/10). ;-)
Follow Ups:
In the "marche au supplice," the trumpets play almost tenuto. I've never heard that interpretation before, but I haven't heard all of 'em either.
But, oddly, it works. After all, who wants to march to the gallows with forceful purpose?
The legato articulation pulls in the other direction of Janowski's rather fast ("double quick") tempo for the movement (although it's not the fastest I've heard). In fact, I hear a slight reluctance on the part of the PSO players to maintain this tempo in one or two spots, as they briefly fall back ever so slightly before resuming full speed - not a big deal to me though. In a strange way, this creates even a bit more tension than usual - as if the prisoner wants to slow the inevitable down - but can't! ;-)
I also found it interesting that Pentatone gives us four separate tracks for the last movement: Intro; Dream of the Witches Sabbath; Dies Irae; Witches Sabbath and the Dies Irae combined. That last section reminds us of what a great master of counterpoint Berlioz was, although he's not known enough for this mastery IMHO.
into his scores.
I've heard it said that Berlioz got as far as any composer could get while *avoiding* counterpoint!
Is it just one of those saying that belongs in the same file as "Karajan is a boring conductor?" Or, "All Mono recordings sound 'flat'?" : )
I have no idea who would have said that Berlioz was trying to avoid counterpoint - that's a statement just not borne out by the facts.
Aside from the Watches' Sabbath section of the Symphonie fantastique, there are some really striking examples: think of the very opening of Romeo and Juliette (Combats, tumulte. . . ) - I don't know of a more arresting section of music in fugal form! But that's not all - after the fugal entries at the beginning in the strings, he later brings in the brass with this splendid countermelody, while the rest of the orchestra continues with the original fugal subjects. (I get goosebumps just thinking about it!) Later in the same piece, there's a long section, "Romeo seul, tristesse. . . " which segues in to "Fete" which bursts with energy in such a striking way. (I'm getting goosebumps again just thinking about it!) But after awhile, Berlioz brings back the "Romeo seul" section and combines it with the brilliant "Fete" music for an even more overwhelming effect!
A more obscure example (but every bit as brilliant - maybe even more so!) occurs near the end of Act I of Berlioz' opera, "Benvenuto Cellini" (just before he brings in the "Roman Carnival" music at the end). There's a big fanfare, and then the baritone sings a short aria-like section. The fanfare returns, and then the soprano sings a different aria section. The fanfare returns a third time, after which we hear a little duet between a different soprano and a tenor (with the soprano imitating the short little musical figures which the tenor sings initially). The fanfare returns a fourth time - now extended and more grandiose than ever. And what do we hear now? We hear ALL THREE of the previous sections sung together in counterpoint! This is music of which you have NO IDEA that it could have been combined in this way to this kind of stunning effect. What a genius! And then he follows this with the Roman Carnival music (as heard in the famous overture he extracted) - but it's also got choral parts now! I'm speechless at this kind of genius and imagination!
Of course, there's other counterpoint in Berlioz' music - more where you would expect it, in the Requiem and the Te Deum. But if you're on the lookout for counterpoint in Berlioz' music, you will definitely hear it!
I used to come across sealed Lp box sets of the old Colin Davis series on Philips. What an investment on behalf of the company, especially that massive Trojans set!
I've become a big fan of the Berlioz series conducted by John Nelson on Erato/Sony. No multichannel unfortunately but 24/96.
Opera was abundant and inexpensive in the heyday of my collecting. Record dealers would get opera with large collections and not know what to do with it.
Listening to Beatrice and Benedict with Yvonne Minton, Placido Domingo, Ileana Cotrubas, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Orchestra of Paris conducted by Daniel Barenboim. My favorite part is the Nocturne duet between Ursula and Hero at the end of Act 1. It is such tender and poignant music.
I also have Romeo and Juliette, Les Troyens, Benvenuto Cellini, Damnation of Faust and of course the Requiem.
Great music.
Enjoy the music.
I have Beatrice et Benedict from that series (the plain old CD's) - a couple of pretty decent Americans in the cast (McNair, Graham), and it's a good alternative to the Davis recordings:
Some exquisite vocals and a few hoe-down moments as well.
I prefer it to the later, more famous version with Baker.
So I guess I'm familiar with at least one of his operas!
"The Trojans" in LA in 1969 (SF Opera, with Crespin!), and "Beatrice and Benedict", also in LA (Mehta/LAPO concert performance, with separate actors doing the spoken dialogue - including Vanessa Redgrave).
are they notated in the score at all? (I tried to find a copy online but couldn't).
. . . and the answer to your question is: yes! - But I screwed up in the title listings I showed yesterday (above). The track titles I showed above were: Intro; Dream of the Witches' Sabbath; Dies irae; Witches Sabbath and the Dies Irae combined. The correct sections (as shown in the score AND the recording tracks) are: no title (only tempo marks - Larghetto, followed by Allegro); Dies irae; Witches' Round Dance; Dies irae and Witches' Round Dance combined. I don't know where I got my titles which I posted yesterday (maybe I was going by my geezer memory!) - sorry for the mistake!
Chris, have you heard Janowski's Brahms cycle with Pittsburgh? It's one of my favorites, and the sound is topnotch.
It was part of the same shipment which contained the Berlioz album. Yes, I liked it a lot. (Don't forget though that I'm easy to please when it comes to the Brahms symphonies!) In general however, I slightly prefer a bit more wallowing in these works (a la Giulini/DG, Celibidache, and Sanderling/Berlin). Janowski conducts the Fourth with a lot of forward motion, and, of its kind, I thought this performance was very effective - and you're right about the top-notch SQ! (I also thought he was great in the filler Hungarian Dances, again, assuming that one is onboard with this "forward motion" approach.)
BTW, years ago, I used to have Janowski's earlier set of Brahms symphonies with the RLPO - which I thought was kind of forgettable. He certainly seems to have taken his conducting to the next level since those days! ;-)
Janowski's recent Beethoven set was fast and faceless.
Just played it yesterday (Fifth and Sixth Symphonies): certainly I'd agree with you about Janowski's hustled-along Pastoral, but I thought the Fifth was very well done, with all the requisite virility (am I allowed to say that these days?) and power.
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