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Hector BERLIOZ
(1803-1869)
Le Corsaire Op.21 (1844-55) [7:58]¹
Symphonie fantastique Op.14 (1830) [47:05]²
Le Carnaval Romain Op.9 (1843) [8:31]³
Les Troyens: Marche troyenne (1856-59)[3:48]º
Le Roi Lear Overture, Op. 4 (1831) [11:28] º
Paris Conservatoire
Orchestra/Charles Munch, recorded in La Maison de la Mutualité, Paris,
June 1948¹
Concertgebouw Orchestra/Eduard van Beinum, recorded in the Grote Zaal,
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, September 1951²
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Victor de Sabata, recorded in Walthamstow
Assembly Hall, London, May 1946³
London Symphony Orchestra/Hamilton Harty, recorded at Decca’s Thames
Street Studios, London, October 1935º BEULAH 1PD30
[78:55]
The prize here is Beulah’s sonic restoration of van Beinum’s 1951
recording of Symphonie fantastique. The conductor and his Concertgebouw
orchestra made something of a habit of recording it. There were
two Deccas, one in 1946 and this one, and two recordings made
in wartime, which necessarily saw limited circulation. I’ve heard
neither of these but both Deccas are superbly accomplished, the
1951 recording in particular, and it sounds well in its upholstered
guise. It’s a moot point as to which is the more exciting and
attractive performance, the 1946 or the 1951. I do think the phrasing
of Un bal is a shade more sympathetic in 1951 but then
again I think the earlier recording shades it fractionally in
the opening in terms of sheer grip and excitement. True the Amsterdam
strings do sound a touch papery - but the ear adjusts – and for
all the vitality of the reading one will still find that Munch
and Monteux offer, at times, even greater vitality. But for those
who want a sole example of van Beinum’s way with this work, this
will do very nicely.
It’s not on its own. There’s the 1948 Paris
recording of Le Corsair with the local Conservatoire
Orchestra under Charles Munch. The strings here really are a
bit desiccated but Munch watchers will like to note that he
takes, to the second, the same tempo as he took in his celebrated
1958 Boston performance. Victor de Sabata gives a panache-attended
performance of Le carnaval romain - vivid and exciting.
And then we have two examples of the famous, if small, Berlioz
discography left by Hamilton Harty. It’s probably best not to
gnash at the loss of a recording with Harty and Tertis in Harold
in Italy. Tertis always said that the finest performance he
gave of that was with Harty. We have to make do with what we
have. Beulah has plumped for the Marche troyenne and
Le roi Lear Overture. These celebrated sides were set
down in 1935 and still sound good; the producer was Walter Yeomans.
With a fine centre-piece this programme has
been planned with care and attention to detail. If the sound
in a couple of the tracks is undernourished then that’s more
a reflection of the prevailing recordings, not of Beulah’s restorations,
which are honest and gutsy.
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