This page lists all recordings of Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 (episodes in the life of an artist), by Hector Berlioz (1803-69) on CD & DVD. Generally, more recent CDs and DVDs are listed first, but with priority given to items that are in stock. |
All recordingsPrices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.)
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle Having championed Russian and German repertoire in their first three releases of 2008, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker turned to French music for their latest CD, specifically the Symphonie fantastique and La mort de Cléopâtre by Hector Berlioz. The Grammy-Award winning mezzo-soprano Susan Graham is featured in La mort de Cléopâtre. Not long ago, Rattle said of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s sound: "It's like an enormous heat source that comes at you, and you feel as though you can burn in it." The orchestra bring the intensity Rattle describes directly to bear on Berlioz’s work, undaunted by the fire in late May 2008 at Berlin’s Philharmonie that resulted in a last minute change of date and venue to Berlin’s Jesus Christ Kirche for the recording of this album. “Rattle and the Berliners are capable of taking one’s breath away” Gramophone Magazine “inspired by Simon Rattle,[the Berlin Philharmonic] give a superb performance of the symphony. Too little is made of the bass drum’s important part in the finale - but in every other respect the playing is exemplary, with the strings really singing their music and the wind matching them with equal force. Rattle, while achieving exceptionally wide dynamic range, shapes the work with a sure hand.” Sunday Times, 14th September 2008 **** “This must be one of the most beautifully played performances of the Symphonie fantastique on disc. Textures have been honed, everything points to an almost obsessive search for perfection, and Simon Rattle has his players paying attention to every last detail of expression and articulation in the score.” The Telegraph, 6th September 2008 “Berlioz blended opera with symphonic form in this blazing outburst of passion, vividly realised by this wonderful ensemble.” Anthony Holden, The Observer, 31st August 2008 “Rattle, displays the easy lyricism one might anticipate, but more power and atmosphere - Berlioz grandioso. Cléopâtre is also a big-screen performance. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, today's reigning Dido, makes Berlioz's earlier heroine equally epic… it's a welcome coupling.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 **** | 
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Elgar - The Dream of Gerontius
“Vickers doesn't disappoint, singing with an intensity and a care for the sound and sense of every word that are well nigh ideal. As the Angel, Constance Shacklock, gravely beautiful if occasionally too grand, is first-class, too. The drama Barbirolli brings to the work is recognisable from his later studio account, but here the live sound is at best adequate and at worse unacceptable, with a microphone placed so close to the conductor that at times he seems to be duetting with Vickers. The orchestra and chorus do their best, which isn't quite good enough; it's Vickers who makes this a must-have.” The Guardian, 23rd May 2008 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis Remastered Quadro Recording (RQR) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  |
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  |
Orchetre National del la Radiodiffusion Française, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  |
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Berlioz - Great Orchestral Works
London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Jarvi ‘Here‚ with vivid Telarc sound engineered by Jack Renner‚ the brilliance of Berlioz’s orchestration is brought out in finely detailed sound with textures clarified.’ Gramophone 10/2001 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |
|
Penguin Guide
Building a Library