Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette & Les Nuits d’Été - Warner Classics: 2176402 - 2 Presto CDs or download

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A fine if not ideally cast account of Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, with plenty of orchestral colour, if occasionally lacking clarity. Janet Baker's sprightly Les nuits d'été is a joy. — BBC Music Magazine, January 2009, 4 out of 5 stars

Release Date: 6th Oct 2008
Catalogue No: 2176402
Label: Warner Classics
Series: Gemini
Length: 2 hours 7 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17

Work length1:35:36

Album only

John Aler (tenor), Simon Estes (bass), Jessye Norman (soprano)
Philadelphia Orchestra, Westminster Choir
Riccardo Muti
Recorded: 1986-01-28
Recording Venue: 25-28 January 1986, Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia Philadelphia

1ère Partie: Introduction: Combats - Tumulte - Intervention du Prince

Track length4:38

$1.30

$1.70

Récitatif choral

Track length4:54

$1.30

$1.70

Strophes

Track length6:50

$1.30

$1.70

Récitatif et Scherzetto

Track length3:13

$1.30

$1.70

2ème Partie: Roméo seul - Tristesse - Bruits lontain Concert et de bal - Grande fête chez les Capulet

Track length6:49

$1.30

$1.70

Nuit sereine - Le jardin de Capulet s'ilencieux et désert. Les jeunes Capulets sortent de la fête, passente en chantant des réminiscences de la musique du bal.

Track length6:26

$1.30

$1.70

Ohé! Capulets! Bonsoir, bonsoir

Track length3:33

$1.30

$1.70

Scène d'amour (Adagio)

Track length15:15

Album only

La reine Mab, ou la Fée des Songes

Track length7:55

$1.30

$1.70

Convoi funèbre de Juliette: Jetez les fleurs

Track length10:04

Album only

Roméo au tombeau des Capulets

Track length1:27

$1.30

$1.70

Invocation

Track length3:11

$1.30

$1.70

Réveil de Juliette

Track length1:22

$1.30

$1.70

Joie délirante

Track length1:00

$1.30

$1.70

Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants

Track length1:38

$1.30

$1.70

La foule accourt au cimetière. Rixe des Capulets et des Montagus

Track length4:08

$1.30

$1.70

Récitatif du Père Laurence. Air du Père Laurence

Track length8:33

$1.30

$1.70

Serment de réconciliation

Track length4:40

$1.30

$1.70

Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7

Work length31:25

$7.80

$10.20

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano)
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Sir John Barbirolli
Recorded: 1967-08-23
Recording Venue: 23 August 1967, Studio No. 1, Abbey Road London

Villanelle

Track length2:22

$1.30

$1.70

Le Spectre de la Rose

Track length7:53

$1.30

$1.70

Sur les Lagunes

Track length5:38

$1.30

$1.70

Absence

Track length5:28

$1.30

$1.70

Au Cimetière

Track length6:08

$1.30

$1.70

L'île inconnue

Track length3:56

$1.30

$1.70

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The works of William Shakespeare have inspired numerous composers but the effect on Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) was deep and life-long – he even married the actress, Harriet Smithson, whose performances as Ophelia (Hamlet) and then, with even greater impact, as Juliet, had kindled this passion. Berlioz did not, like his later compatriot, Gounod, create an opera but what he described as a “Dramatic Symphony” – the play’s central love scene has no voices it is left to the orchestra to give a emotionally highly charged description.

Of the three soloists it is only the bass soloist who is given a specific role in the work, that of Friar Laurence; the other two merely describe the feelings of the two lovers. With a chorus adding considerable colour he created a work which had commentators like Dumas ecstatic in their enthusiasm for it. Riccardo Muti with his Philadelphia Orchestra and soloists – Jessye Norman, John Aler and Simon Estes clearly revel in the remarkable orchestration and colour that the composer demands. Berlioz, however, was not exclusively dramatic or spectacular in his compositions as the beautiful selection of songs Les Nuits d’été show. Originally written with piano accompaniment in 1840/1 he orchestrated them fifteen years later. They explore different aspects of romantic love they are as beautiful as anything he wrote. The classic recording with Dame Janet Baker and Sir John Barbirolli complete this valuable set.

Reviews

January 2009

A fine if not ideally cast account of Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, with plenty of orchestral colour, if occasionally lacking clarity. Janet Baker's sprightly Les nuits d'été is a joy.

Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette & Les Nuits d’Été

2 Presto CDs

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