Berlioz: Great Orchestral Works

Disc 1
1	Symphonie fantastique for
2	Symphonie fantastique for
3	Symphonie fantastique for
4	Symphonie fantastique for
5	Symphonie fantastique for
6	Le carnival romain (Roman
7	Le Corsaire, overture for
Disc 2
1	Harold en Italie (Harold
2	Harold en Italie (Harold
3	Harold en Italie (Harold
4	Harold en Italie (Harold
5	Harold en Italie (Harold
6	Symphonie funèbre et trio
7	Symphonie funèbre et trio
8	Symphonie funèbre et trio
Berlioz: Great Orchestral Works
1.	Symphonie fantastique for orchestra ("Episode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties"), H.48 (Op. 14) 55:39
	Composed by Hector Berlioz
	Conducted by Colin Davis
	Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
2.	Le carnival romain (Roman Carnival Overture), ouverture catactéristique for orchestra, H.95 (Op. 9) 9:05
	Composed by Hector Berlioz
	Conducted by Colin Davis
	Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
3.	Le Corsaire, overture for orchestra, H. 101 (Op. 21) 8:38
	Composed by Hector Berlioz
	Conducted by Colin Davis
	Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
4.	Harold en Italie (Harold in Italy), symphony for viola & orchestra, H. 68 (Op. 16) 42:18
	Composed by Hector Berlioz
	Conducted by Colin Davis
	Performed by London Symphony Orchestra and Nobuko Imai
5.	Symphonie funèbre et triomphale, for band, strings & chorus ad lib, H. 80 (Op. 15) 34:57
	Composed by Hector Berlioz
	Conducted by Colin Davis
	Performed by John Alldis Choir and London Symphony Orchestra

Barnes & Noble

It's hard to believe that Berlioz's luridly colorful and emotionally out-of-control Symphonie Fantastique (1830) could have been written less than a decade after Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. While the Ninth broke with the traditional symphonic form in its choral finale, Berlioz's Symphonie hardly seems to resemble its classical predecessors. Inspired by the young composer's burning passion for an English actress, this work consists of five opium-induced visions, including a hallucination in which the composer is executed (he even wrote the thud of the guillotine into the music) and concluding with a nightmarish depiction of a witches' sabbath that outdoes Wes Craven. "Harold in Italy" is a symphony for viola and orchestra inspired by Byron's epic poem, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." Only slightly more subdued than the Symphonie Fantastique, the final movement -- depicting "An Orgy of the Brigands" -- is yet another brilliantly psychedelic musical canvas. Sir Colin Davis became known as a Berlioz specialist primarily through these highly praised recorded interpretations, which are as powerful and passionate as this music demands. This two-for-the-price-of-one reissue makes these versions more valuable still. Andrew Farach-Colton

Gramophone

Davis's performances of Berlioz remain among the finest of our time... Those here recorded have long been favourites with collectors and it is splendid, and splendid value, to have them here assembled in a convenient two-disc format.