Berlioz: Overtures

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The San Diego Symphony Orchestra no longer exists, unfortunately, having succumbed to financial pressures after a troubled history. It's a pity, for they were good, as this excellent budget-priced collection of overtures proves. This is, in fact, the most comprehensive collection of overtures by Berlioz currently available, and at Naxos's budget price, it's a very good deal. Yoav Talmi keeps the music moving with a sure sense of rhythm, and there's some particularly fine solo woodwind playing in the music's quieter passages. Anyone looking for these pieces can invest in this disc with complete confidence. --David Hurwitz

Tracks:

Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (Harold in Italy); Harold aux
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (Harold in Italy); Marche des pèlerins (March
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (Harold in Italy); Sérénade (2007 SACD
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (Harold in Italy); Orgie des brigands (Orgy of
Béatrice et Bénédict Overture (2007 SACD Remastered)
Le Corsaire Overture (2007 SACD Remastered)
Benvenuto Cellini Overture (2007 SACD Remastered)
Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9 (2007 SACD Remastered)
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (Harold in Italy); Harold aux montagnes
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (Harold in Italy); Marche des pèlerins (March
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (Harold in Italy); Sérénade (5.1 Surround
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (Harold in Italy); Orgie des brigands (Orgy of
Béatrice et Bénédict Overture (5.1 Surround Mix)
Le Corsaire Overture (5.1 Surround Mix)
Benvenuto Cellini Overture (5.1 Surround Mix)
Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9 (5.1 Surround Mix)

Customer Reviews:

Wow!.......2007-07-14

First of all, the music itself is simple beautiful and amusing. It's light-hearted and fun to listen to. On the level of interpretation, I believe that Munch's approach to the music of this repertoire is second to none. He just handles the Boston Symphony Orchestra right and has a way of accenting the wonderful tempos and themes; the result is magical! In the "Harold in Italy", who better than Primrose? I felt that the overtures were just as enjoyable as the main item on this new recording in RCA's Living Stereo Hybrid-SACD collection.

All together, the sound is simply spectacular and the level of musicianship is of the highest caliber. This recording is well worth your money!

Average customer rating:

perfect selection for commencement/ graduation
Great Starting Point for Classical Music Novices
**An Exquisite Album**
Samples
Great Sampler!

Simply the Best Classical Anthems

Manufacturer: Erato
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Thunderous Classics
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ASIN: B00004SUVI
Release Date: 2000-04-25

Tracks:

Requiem: Dies Irae
Carmina Burana: O Fortuna
The Planets: Mars
The Ride Of The Valkyries
Chorus Of The Hebrew Slaves
Fanfare For The Common Man
Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1
Aida: Grand March
Summer - Four Seasons: Presto
Te Deum: Prelude
The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra
Toccata And Fugue In D Minor
Symphony No. 5: First Movement
Spartacus: Adagio
Sabre Dance
Symphony No. 40: First Movement
Zadok The Priest
Turandot: Nessun Dorma

Tracks:

Also Sprach Zarathoustra
Romeo And Juliet: Dance Of The Knights
Requiem: Dies Irae
1812 Overture
Piano Concerto
Spring - Four Seasons: Allegro
Messiah: Hallelujah Chorus
The Royal Fireworks: La Ruissance From Music
Flight Of The Bumble Bee
Symphonie Fantastique: March To The Scaffold
Carmen: Overture
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Jerusalem
The Planets: Jupiter
Symphony No 9, 'Ode To Joy'
Swan Lake: Scene
Enigma Variations: Nimrod
Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini [Variation 18]
Pictures At An Exibitions: Promenade
Symphony For Organ No 3: Finale, Symphony For Organ No 3

Customer Reviews:

perfect selection for commencement/ graduation.......2007-06-11

We were concerned after reading some other reviews that this version of Pomp and Circumstance wouldn't be the correct movement or the full length version. This selection has the song for graduation AND the extended length, so it gives plenty of time for processionals. If this is what you need, this is the CD to get.

Great Starting Point for Classical Music Novices.......2004-08-13

"Simply the Best Classicial Anthems" is exactly what the title indicates. This is a collection of what the CD says are "36 of the most powerful classics on Earth". My review of this CD comes from someone who is a Classical Music Novice. I'm familiar with some of the composers, musical styles, musical periods, and some of the terminology that is key to understanding Classical Music. By no means am I an expert. I have basically popped in this two CD collection into my player and have enjoyed the sounds it produces. If you are in the same category as I am or maybe just wanting to be introduced to Classical Music - this is going to be a very good CD to have in your collection. For the more seasoned Classical Music fan, this could be either enjoyable or overkill.

The CD contains 36 songs composed by the legends of Classical Music Composers from the past. The bulk of the works come from Composers in the the 19th and 20th century, but there are works from the Romantic and Classical eras of the late 18th and early 19th century (such as Beethoven and Mozart). In general you will find most of the major names of Composers you would expect to find - names such as Tchiakovsky, Handel, Verdi, Strauss, Elgar, and Bach are all there. The only major composer who I would have expected to see on this CD that I don't see is Frederic Chopin. The composers of the late 20th century are not included on this collection - so you won't see Leonard Bernstein or John Williams on this set. While these Composers are excellent, I do think style of the tracks on this collection pre-date their style.

The recordings themselves are done by the great Orchestras around the world. For the most part, European Orchestras were used to deliver the tracks. There are a few exceptions: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra delivers "The Ride of the Valkyries"; The Toronto Symphony Orchestra delivers "Dance of the Knights"; and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra delivers Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture". Some of the European Orchestras that are well known include: BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, Choeur Philhamonique de Strasbourg, and more. Also included are performances by well known names in the Classical space such as Marie-Claire Alain (Bach's "Toccate and Fogue in D Minor" and Saint-Saens' "Symphony for Organ No 3"), Piero Toso (Vivaldi's "Allegro From Spring - Four Seasons"), and Placido Domingo appears on Puccini's "Nessun Dorma".

The 2 Disc collection contains a total of over 2 hours and 6 minutes of music. The selections that are included in the set will sound very familiar to you when you play them. You probably have both heard and seen the names of tracks such as: Oref's "O Fortuna"; Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man"; Beethoven's "First Movement from Symphony Number 5" and "Ode To Joy"; Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance", and Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture". Many of the other tracks will also sound familiar, but maybe not so much by name - such as Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries", Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathoustra"; Grieg's "Piano Concerto", and "Dies Irae" (versions included by Mozart and Verdi - you can compare the two and judge for yourself). As for the Discs themselves, I think most of the casual fans will like the selections on Disc Two better, but Disc One is still very good. On a sidebar, the Israel Philharmonic's version of "1812 Overture" is by far the best you will hear - particularly at the end, the booming drums create almost a 3 dimensional vision of fireworks being launched into the air.

There one big negative on this collection is some of the recording quality. The clarity of the recording is there, but some of the recording levels leave a lot to be desired. On some of the softer parts, it is barely audible without significantly turning up your volume. This is very evident on "O Fortuna" where you will hear almost dead silence during from the 30 second to 1:30 mark of the track unless you crank your volume up. Same with the first few seconds of Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathoustra" and Tchiakovsky's "1812 Overture". When the volume is cranked up you will hear them - but then the other sections will be way too loud. I'm surprised with modern technology that this couldn't be addressed better.

The liner notes are pretty thin. You do get the Composers, Performers/Orchestras, and recording dates. There isn't any more details than that and you won't learn anymore insight on the tracks than this information. Despite some of the shortcomings of the liner notes and recording volume, I still think this is an excellent place to start and do recommend this CD if you are a novice to Classical Music and are looking for a great place to start listening to what the Classics have to offer.

**An Exquisite Album**.......2004-02-21

Simply The Best Classical Anthems

Simply The Best Classical Anthems is a compilation album of `36 of the most powerful Anthems on Earth'. But, it is also said to be something else. It is said to be a gateway. A gateway to another world. A world where our imagination can run free without being shackled down by any borders or boundaries or rules or limits. A world that we have all seen or perhaps more accurately have all heard of but for many of us a world that we have never dared to enter. Never dared to enter because of fear. The fear of being ostracised and shunned by our community.

THE MYTH
`Classical Music!', I can hear some of you cry. `That isn't another world. That's just music for the upperclass, the high-brow, and the pompous.' Surprisingly, I too felt this way for a long time until I accepted the invitation made to me by Simply The Best Classical Anthems. I always felt that Classical Music was nice to listen to as background music for a Levis ad or a Car ad but I would consider people strange if they chose to hear it on its own. However, after having listened to this album I realised how wrong I was in my assumptions.

THE TRUTH
Music as with all forms of amusement helps to take you away from where you are now. It helps to relax you when you are stressed with anger; it helps to give you strength when you are vulnerable; it helps to keep your spirits up when you have faced tragedy or loss. It helps. And, for me the type of music that best conjures up the most passionate emotions (love, hate, courage and anger) at our most testing times is Classical Music.
How? I don't know.
Why? I don't know.
I can only promise you that in my experience it does.

THE CHEST
The album, in visual terms, is very difficult to overlook amongst the plethora of records that may surround it. This is because the album has a very distinct purple sleeve cover. Not any kind of purple mind you but the Cadbury's kind of purple. The kind of purple that carries with it an invitation. An invitation that if accepted promises you a treasure inside.
And since, I have always enjoyed the treasure within the purple Cadbury's Dairy Milk wrapper, I asked myself why would an album carrying the same invitation promise to be anything different? Thus, I parted with my tuppence worth and went back home to open this purple chest of promised treasures.

THE PROMISED TREASURE
As you may have guessed, the contents of the album are somewhat different to the contents of a Cadbury's bar. When I opened the album, I was presented with two compact discs. At first glance, there did not seem to be anything special about them. They were just your average, everyday, run of the mill compact discs. To tell you the truth, I was a bit disappointed because I suppose I had hoped for something more.
However, looks can be deceptive. (Afterall, a Cadbury's Dairy Milk does not seem very appetising until you taste it!) And, also come November each year, I am always bemused and surprised at how the shabby contents of a cardboard box can both light up the sky and light up the faces of the neighbourhood. Thus, I pushed aside my assumptions and I ignited the discs (not literally of course, I just pressed the play button on the CD player). And, I let the fireworks begin.

THE KEY
From the very beginning, you will feel like you have unlocked the doorway to something special. And, after a full two hours of listening to both discs, you will feel like you have been taken out of this world and transported to another. Welcome to the world of Classical Music.

GUIDANCE
In the beginning, continue to listen to both discs in one go (i.e. one after the other). After a while, you will know which tracks you enjoy listening to the most. For those tracks you enjoyed the most make a promise to yourself that you will listen to the whole of the piece from which that track came from.
Good Luck on your quest if you choose to accept it.
Ride amongst the Valkyries, listen to the Flight of the Bumblebees, and use The Planets to keep you on the path.

I am not a good reviewer because as with all of my reviews I refuse to comment too much about what is inside the product but rather more about what effect the product has had on me. (Me, me, me. Vain & Egotistic, I know, so my friends and family keep telling me). But, I just want to cause a raucous about the product, enough not to spoil but enough of a raucous to let you experience it for yourself.

So my final words are:
Simply The Best Classical Anthems is an invitation. An invitation to the world of classical music. A world where you can begin a never-ending quest of curiosity. A curiosity that will always be rewarded with fulfilment.

Do you accept such an invitation?

Hope you found this review helpful.

Samples.......2003-11-23

The samples are too short and the quality leaves a lot to be desired. Having said that the choices are wonderful and the price is great. If you're looking for a overview of the best of classical music then this is for you. However if it's quality you're looking for then spent the extra money and look at other choices.

Great Sampler!.......2002-03-20

This is a good sampler, since it covers what you would want in a classical music CD. Looking at the tracks, it has the classic hits, such as "Ride of the Valkyries," "Toccata and Fugue," "Fanfare for the Common Man," "'Jupiter' from `The Planets,'" "Eine Klein Nachtmusik," and "Hallelujah Chorus."

There are also some new pieces that I have fallen in love with, such as "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," "'Promenade' from Pictures at an Exhibition." The compilers did an interesting double take by including both Verdi's and Mozart's "Dies Ire." I'm not sure which is better.

This music is good for the brain and good for the soul. There is a power and passion that the blaring and glaring music that makes up most of the FM band. I'm reminded of the religious man who said that there is no music in hell. Probably because they wouldn't appreciate it there.

Tracks:

Light Cavalry - Suppe
Ruslan and Lyudmila - Glinka
La Traviata - Prelude, Act I - Verdi
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg - Prelude, ACt I - Wagner
Les Francs-Juges - Berlioz
Le nozze di Figaro - Mozart
Egmont - Beethoven
Oberon - Weber
Academic Festival Overture - Brahms
Pique Dame - Suppe

Tracks:

Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna - Suppe
Il barbiere di Siviglia - Rossini
Prince Igor - Borodin
Carmen - Prelude, Act I - Bizet
Der fliegende Hollander - Wagner
Leonore No 3 - Beethoven
Hansel und Gretel - Humperdinck
Khovanshchina - Mussorgsky
Poet and Peasant - Suppe

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic.......2006-06-30

First of all anything with Sir Solti's name on is worth purchasing. Solti has such a way with interpreting music! If you like overtures this CD is for you. It has the best overtures here in one collection. With orchestras like chicago, london, and the vienna you cannot argue with the performances. There are a few "weaker" ensembles, but when compared with the other ensembles there are few that will not sound weak. Again any work Solti has done is worth purchasing!

Famous Overtures.......2005-08-16

Did not like the way these musical pieces were "interpretted".
Did not like the tempo and in one piece one of the instruments played a portion which I would say they played a flat instead of a natural note. This is based on hearing the same pieces played by someone else, it's just my opinion.

Spectacular.......2003-09-25

Not only does it include some of the most famous overtures, but they are played in such an exciting style, full of life and passion. The Suppe overtures are superior and the Wagner overtures are wonderful as well. There is not a bad point to this recording - highly recommended!

Excellent.......2002-06-11

This is an excellent collection of overtures, especially of Von Suppe's overtures. Solti truly brings out life in these pieces.

The best Overture Album !.......2000-02-28

If you like overtures, here is the album. Never have these been performed so musically and with such excitement. The orchestras involved vary in their abilities, yet the Chicago, Vienna, and London Symphony perfom with style. Solti loves this music and it shows.

Average customer rating:

As good as it gets!
A desert island disc, unsurpassed
Very Good

Berlioz: Overtures; Queen Mab Scherzo

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B000003FCM
Release Date: 1993-05-11

Tracks:

Le Carnaval Romain
Beatrice Et Benedict: Overture
Le Corsaire
Les Troyens
Benvenutto Cellini: Overture
Romeo Et Juliette: Scherzo De La Reine Mab
Le Rouet D'omphale

Amazon.com essential recording

Munch and Berlioz are like chocolate and peanut butter--they go great together. This disc is the finest collection of Berlioz overtures and short works available, and possibly the best ever recorded. Berlioz was music's ultimate neurotic: his music is quite simply hyper. It jumps, fidgets, and explodes with bursts of passion, all of it uniquely tuneful and magnificently scored. Charles Munch could lose himself in music like this; here he surrenders to the excitement of the moment and positively revels in the passages where all hell breaks loose. The Boston Symphony plays as if their lives depended on it, and the early-1960s sound hasn't dated a bit. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

As good as it gets!.......2005-07-05

These Berlioz overtures will never find a best performer than Munch: This Alsatian conductor had that sublime taste, eloquence, absolute domain of the thematic material, presence and hard to find conviction as any other conductor previous or later.
Besides, if you have an Orchestra of such level as the Boston Symphony in those ages, how can you loose?.
Magnificent performances and the best made rendition for Berlioz music.

A desert island disc, unsurpassed.......2005-03-10

Reviewer David Hurwitz has it on the nose - there have never been recorded performances of Berlioz's popular short pieces of music to match these. The overtures, which contain infectious melodies that beg replay, explode with life under Munch's baton, and the magnificient BSO plays them to the hilt. Roman Carnival erupts with sizzling joy, almost making the listener stand up and cheer while listening to it; in Beatrice and Benedict, one can sense the tangible presence of Shakespeare's comic lovers duking it out with reckless hilarious abandon. The Royal Hunt and Storm from Les Troyens is the most evocative version ever placed on disc, and the other two lollipops are no less splendid. The sound is bright, sparkling, fully present and clear to match the performances. Make no mistake, folks, it gets no better than this.

Very Good.......1999-06-16

This is a very good recording of these Berlioz overtures and it sounds very good. Not the greatest music ever, but this is a very good recording and makes the music sound very good.

Average customer rating:

A fitting homage to the defunct San Diego Symphony...
Surprise! A Berlioz overture colleciton to rival Davis and Munch
very good performances
A wonderful find!
A wonderful find!

Berlioz: Overtures

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Symphonie Fantastique

ASIN: B00000141R
Release Date: 1994-11-29

Tracks:

Overtures: Benvenuto Cellini, Op. 23
Overtures: Waverley, Op. 1
Overtures: Beatrice And Benedict
Overtures: King Lear, Op. 4
Overtures: Roman Carnival, Op. 9
Overtures: Rob Roy
Overtures: Le Corsaire, Op. 21

Amazon.com

The San Diego Symphony Orchestra no longer exists, unfortunately, having succumbed to financial pressures after a troubled history. It's a pity, for they were good, as this excellent budget-priced collection of overtures proves. This is, in fact, the most comprehensive collection of overtures by Berlioz currently available, and at Naxos's budget price, it's a very good deal. Yoav Talmi keeps the music moving with a sure sense of rhythm, and there's some particularly fine solo woodwind playing in the music's quieter passages. Anyone looking for these pieces can invest in this disc with complete confidence. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

A fitting homage to the defunct San Diego Symphony..........2006-02-28

Israeli Cond. Yoav Talmi and the San Diego Sym. give us an electrified" swan song" to remember the financially strapped orchestra by. Standards in performance and engineering are higher than on most of the Naxos Eastern European projects. You get a generious 75mins. of seven Berlioz overtures. His genius
touched every aspect of the Romantic Era, through color and instumentation and the transfer of literature to music. The good program notes included will guide you through each. Don't pass this one over!

Surprise! A Berlioz overture colleciton to rival Davis and Munch.......2005-10-08

Yoav Talmi? A now-defunct San diego Sym. that at the best of times was trying to keep afloat in a sinkhole of culture? But they pull it off. This CD surpasses Dutoit from Ontreal and the latter Colin Davis from Dresden in terms of exctiement and genuine Berlioz volatility. the sound is fine, the orchestra much better than Naxos's usual Eastern European state orchestras. Only the early Davis colleciton on Philips and the classic one under Munch on RCA is in the same league.

very good performances.......2003-10-29

This is, perhaps, the best collection of overtures of Berlioz.

I think, San Diego Symphony Orchestra is one of the best ensembles in U.S.A.. But, I never saw their succesful recordings like this, before bought this CD. And their sound is very good.

Especially, I like the "Benvenuto Cellini" Overture. This flamboyant music is a late period work, written before his "La Damnation de Faust". But, first performance of this opera wasn't be succesful, as you know, moreover somebody was to maked fun of this opera, with they were said "The Composer of Malvenuto Cellini" !!.. But now, this overture (and opera) is one of the best works of composer.

And there is a not too known work: Les Fran-Juges. This was to be formed an opera, but he could finish only this overture, actually, he written some scetches of opera, but unfortunately, they were lost.

Except, still well-known, "Roman Carnival" and "Le Corsaire" overtures, there are his early works: Opus 1: Wawerley, Rob Roy and King Lear.

Performances of all works are very good.

At this price, this is must have for any Berlioz fans and collectors.

Highly recommended.

A wonderful find!.......2001-09-24

This is just the sort of collection I had been looking for and even though it lacks some that I'd hoped for I'm happy with it. I must offer my sympathy to the audience; the orchestra is defunct so I understand, and a fine group it was. Berlioz is not the easiest composer to negotiate in matters of tempi; this band romps through the "Overture to Bennevuto Cellini" with precision and dash. The brass sounds properly Berliozan as do the winds. Back in the fifties there was a Columbia release on the Epic Label of these overtures played by the City of Birmingham SO and this cd reminds me of that recording, taut and brilliant playing with "elan". Highly recommended.

A wonderful find!.......2001-09-24

Overtures by Berlioz; Mendelssohn; Schubert; Smetana & Strauss

Average customer rating:

Overtures by Berlioz; Mendelssohn; Schubert; Smetana & Strauss

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00068V3AM
Release Date: 2005-05-24

Tracks:

Roman Carnival
Applause
The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave)
Applause
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Applause
Rosamunde D644
Applause
Vltava
Applause
The Bat
Applause

Weber:Horn Concertino-Overtures Symphonies Nos. 1&2

Average customer rating:

Excellent stuff.
Vital and Esprit
Vital and Esprit

Weber:Horn Concertino-Overtures Symphonies Nos. 1&2

Manufacturer: Nimbus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00004XPKJ
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Tracks:

Ov: Euryanthe
Ov: Oberon
Ov: Der Freischutz
Ov: The Ruler Of The Spirits
Invitation To The Dance
Ov: Abu Hassan
Ov: Peter Schmoll

Tracks:

Sym No.1 in C: I. Allegro Con Fuoco
Sym No.1 in C: II. Andante
Sym No.1 in C: III. Scherzo: Presto
Sym No.1 in C: IV. Finale: Presto
Hrn Con in E - Anthony Halstead
Sym No.2 in C: III. Allegro
Sym No.2 in C: II. Adagio Ma Non Troppo
Sym No.2 in C: III. Menuetto: Allegro
Sym No.2 in C: IV. Finale: Scherzo Presto

Customer Reviews:

Excellent stuff........2005-03-24

This disc served as my introduction to Weber's music OTHER than Der Freischutz (I already had the complete recording of Freischutz before I found this one). The Hanover Band sounds absolutely stunning, very resonant even on period instruments. It's really breathtaking to hear this music the way it would've sounded to Weber's ears in the 1820's. The brass tuttis are stellar...if you don't like bass trombone, you may become a little annoyed with this recording because it constantly has lots of prescence when it has any part at all. I don't mind this, as I love the instrument.

If you are a horn player, like me, and/or have any interest in handhorn, this recording is a must for the Concertino. I've never heard natural horn sound so good. The horn openings of the Oberon and Freischutz Overtures sound amazing on the period instruments. You'll be amazed how open the brass sound is on the chorale-style section in Ruler of the Spirits...it can make you wish the valve was never invented.

I didn't really care for the symphonies...if you like Schubert's symphonies, you will probably enjoy them. Weber's music had a huge impact on the musical world, almost pointing a straight arrow to Wagner. If you listen closely to the Overture to Oberon, you can hear the similarity to many parts of Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream. (same plot line, after all). In my opinion, this is great music played very capably by a great ensemble. For the quality of the Overtures and Concertino alone, this disc is a bargain.

Vital and Esprit.......2002-11-15

The orchestral colours are excitingly recorded, especially the brass is pretty dramatic.

Thanks to the period instruments with Goodman as conductor one can hear the demonic power and richness of sonority of Weber's beautiful music.

I compared quite a lot of other recordings and must say that this one is my favourite.

Vital and Esprit.......2002-11-15

The orchestral colours are excitingly recorded, especially the brass is pretty dramatic.

Thanks to the period instruments with Goodman as conductor one can hear the demonic power and richness of sonority of Weber's beautiful music.

Tracks:

Sym Fant: Reveries; Passions
Sym Fant: A Ball
Sym Fant: Scene In The Country
Sym Fant: March To The Scaffold
Sym Fant: Dream Of A Witches' Sabbath
Benvenuto Cellini: Ov
Les Troyens: Act II Ov
La Damnation De Faust: Rakoczy March

Customer Reviews:

Great Berlioz from a great Maitre.......2000-07-13

This San Francisco Symphonie is vastly superior to Monteux's scattered remake from Vienna. The orchestra is trained int the French idiom and its virtuosity gets full measure of the music. While not on the level of Paray/Detroit, Monteux and his band are totally-convincing adherents to the Gallic tradition of this masterpiece.

The rest of the issue can be praised for similar reasons, and the old RCA sound from the 1940s has been as carefully reworked as a car enthusiast would lovingly restore a '48 Fleetwood. And like the Fleetwood, this RCA reissue is a total class act.