Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

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Expertly played and transferred, Eduard van Beinum’s early 1950s Berlioz possesses an eloquence, dignity and emotional immediacy almost in the Paul Paray (Mercury) class. — BBC Music Magazine, March 2018, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 18th Aug 2017
Catalogue No: ELQ4825569
Label: Eloquence
Length: 67 minutes

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Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14

Work length47:17

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Eduard van Beinum
Recorded: 1951-09-10
Recording Venue: Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam

1. Rêveries - Passions. Largo - Allegro agitato e appassionato assai - Religiosamente

Track length12:31

2. Un bal. Valse. Allegro non troppo

Track length6:10

3. Scène aux champs. Adagio

Track length14:50

4. Marche au supplice. Allegretto non troppo

Track length4:31

5. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat. Larghetto - Allegro

Track length9:15

Berlioz: Le carnaval romain Overture, Op. 9

Work length8:04

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Eduard van Beinum
Recorded: 1951-09
Recording Venue: Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, Amsterdam

Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H 111 / Pt. 2

Work length2:23

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Eduard van Beinum
Recorded: 1952-05
Recording Venue: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

Ballet des Sylphes

Track length2:23

Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H 111 / Pt. 3

Work length5:23

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Eduard van Beinum
Recorded: 1952-05
Recording Venue: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

Menuet des Feux Follets

Track length5:23

Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H 111 / Pt. 1

Work length4:23

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Eduard van Beinum
Recorded: 1952-05
Recording Venue: Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

Marche hongroise

Track length4:23

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Between the controversial Mengelberg and the versatile Bernard Haitink, Eduard van Beinum played a less distinctive role as principal conductor of the Concertgebouw in the postwar years until his death in 1959, but it is difficult to overestimate the positive effect he had on that orchestra, and the sincerity of his musicianship.

Van Beinum described his relationship with orchestral musicians as ‘first among equals’, and the implications of that collaborative approach to music-making may be appreciated in the beautifully moulded wind solos of this Symphonie fantastique. The Roman Carnival Overture was recorded during the same sessions as the symphony in September 1951, while the excerpts from The Damnation of Faust date from May 1952. The conductor’s unfussy mastery and elucidation of symphonic form also serve as a useful reminder that that Berlioz, for all his Romantic trappings was, in some respects, a Classicist.

‘A typical van Beinum recording is like a home-cooked meal,’ the critic Raymond Tuttle has remarked: ‘no ostentation, but no guilt, and the sensation of being in competent, judicious hands crosses the decades.’ He contributes a booklet note which discusses both these epoch-making works and the conductor’s humble service to them. These recordings have been newly remastered for this Eloquence reissue.

Reviews

March 2018

Expertly played and transferred, Eduard van Beinum’s early 1950s Berlioz possesses an eloquence, dignity and emotional immediacy almost in the Paul Paray (Mercury) class.

September/October 2003

Van Beinum's approach serves as a reminder that Berlioz, for all of his Romantic trappings, was, in some respects, a closet Classicist. And neither Toscanini nor Davis brought to the Roman Carnival Overture the delineation of woodwind detail that can be heard in this recording

November 1952

Van Beinum’s conducting of Berlioz (as shown best in his Symphonie fantastique) is both scrupulous and spirited; and the Dutch orchestra responds splendidly.

Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

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