# symphony Fantastique - best recording?



## juliante

I have a recording by Davis and Vienna phil which I think is well regarded - but I find the sound distant and dull in parts. Any recommendations? I think I am going to get a lot out of this piece.:tiphat:


----------



## TxllxT

Excellent interpretations + recordings


----------



## Triplets

Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphonyvery exciting performance, thrillingly recorded


----------



## Headphone Hermit

I very much like the Gardiner on Philips (as above) but I'd also strongly recommend Colin Davis with Concertgebouw Orchestra (also on Philips) - in my opinion, it is much better than the Vienna version


----------



## Orfeo

Muti with the Philadelphia Orchestra for me (EMI). Then, it's,
Myung-whun Chung with the Orchestra de L'Opera Bastille (DG).


----------



## KenOC

Yes, Paul Paray. My absolute favorite by a wide margin. Accept no other!


----------



## D Smith

Second the Davis/Concertgebouw recording. Excellent.


----------



## Funny

I grew up listening to Ormandy / Philadelphia and though I've heard a good number of others I kind of default to that one. But I will say that it wasn't until I heard the Hanover Band version (well after hearing at least a half-dozen others) that I could discern that that part in the last movement where it sounds like the whole orchestra is just relentlessly slamming the same chord over and over and over while the low horns do an arcing arpeggio is actually two halves of the orchestra jockeying back and forth in a huge offbeat-hemiola effect that's much more thrilling than what you get when the playing and/or the sound is not clear and precise enough.


----------



## nightscape

Orfeo said:


> *Muti with the Philadelphia Orchestra for me (EMI)


Now we're talkin'


----------



## Manxfeeder

Another vote for Gardiner. C'mon, it's got an ophicleide AND a serpent!


----------



## Machiavel

Charles Munch for everything Berlioz composed.


----------



## Pugg

​Nose length before Muti


----------



## DavidA

Pugg said:


> ​Nose length before Muti


I got the Paray on a very cheap bargain label, in mono, as oneof my first records. Exciting!
Today I have David and Karajan - both good in their different ways.
One to avoid is Norrington's HIP version which is dull as ditchwater. Conducting by numbers.


----------



## Aleksandar

Karajan or Solti for me


----------



## techniquest

I've got three recordings: Berstein/NYPO on Sony; Slatkin/Orchestre National de Lyon on Naxos and Nanut/Ljubljana Radio Symphony Orchestra on Classical Masterworks. Of these, the Bernstein is probably the best, however it's worth noting that Nanut uses a novel trick for the bells in the 'Witches Sabbath' which he augments with a very low piano and tamtam. Sadly, however, the ultra-low bass trombones are missing in the 'March to the Scaffold'.
I think I'm going to get the Gardiner recording - who can resist a serpent? Also, listening to it on Youtube, Gardiner has the most almighty cathedral-style bells!


----------



## david johnson

If the bells are cathedral I like it. That's why I usually pick the Ormandy/Philly versions.


----------



## juliante

Is it mono? (Is the sound good?) thanks all for your recs.


----------



## hapiper

I have been meaning to get this work for ages now and this post has finally got me to do it, just ordered a copy. So thanks for motivating me to finally ordering this. I couldn't read the cover well enough to see which orchestra/conductor it is but it is on SACD so it should be fairly good.


----------



## geralmar

Triplets said:


> Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphonyvery exciting performance, thrillingly recorded


The Paray must be good: it is included in two of the three Mercury Living Presence boxes.


----------



## Marsilius

Another vote for Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Plus, there's an excellent account - my personal favourite - from the largely forgotten Ataulfo Argenta and the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra (Decca).


----------



## realdealblues

There is no best but my pick for favorite recording is Munch's 2nd recording with Boston from 1962.

View attachment 80829


It's out of print but you can pick it up very cheaply used. I know several critics as well as writers for Music magazines who all agree that it's one that truly belongs in every collection. It's better played and better recorded than his first recording from the Living Stereo series that is usually recommended. This one has kind of been forgotten about but you will not find a deeper probing into the mysteries of this music than this recording in my opinion. It really is that good!

My other favorite recording is Leonard Bernstein's 2nd traversal from 1968 with the New York Philharmonic.
View attachment 80830


This one is also sadly out of print and could use a good remastering but it can be had very cheaply on the secondary market.


----------



## hpowders

Boston Symphony/Charles Munch. Terrific!


----------



## Headphone Hermit

is there an trans-Atlantic perspective here?

Are North-Americans more likely to prefer Paray/Munch/Bernstein interpretations and Europeans more likely to prefer Davis (and Gardner) ... or does it just seem that way?


----------



## Gordontrek

Andre Previn and the Royal Philharmonic.
(Yes, ROYAL Philharmonic. His LSO recording is more widely known, but the relatively rare RPO here is far and away the best I've heard.)









This is the Marche au Supplice from the set. Different album cover in the video but still the same music:


----------



## starthrower

Cleveland Orchestra/Maazel on Telarc


----------



## TxllxT

Headphone Hermit said:


> is there an trans-Atlantic perspective here?
> 
> Are North-Americans more likely to prefer Paray/Munch/Bernstein interpretations and Europeans more likely to prefer Davis (and Gardner) ... or does it just seem that way?


I think it has a lot to do with the first love one meets: in America the chances of listening for the first time to the Symphonie Fantastique in an American setting are much greater than the European & vice versa...


----------



## dsphipps100

I'm in North America (Texas, to be exact), and my preference has always been for the Davis/Concertgebouw version. Interpretively, Davis and Munch come out about even (although they both have differences here and there, of course). The 2 main differences for me are that the 1950s/1960s Boston Symphony Orchestra, good as they were, just weren't quite at the same level of excellence as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw for Davis, and Philips' recorded sound, albeit non-digital analogue sound, is absolutely fabulous - noticeably better than RCA's 1950s/1960s sound, even with re-mastering.

This is not to say the Munch/Boston is bad at all, mind you - those who already possess it have no need to immediately toss it in favor of the Davis/Amsterdam - although you should make sure that your Munch/Boston is the 1962 RCA Victrola version instead of the 1954 "Living Stereo" version.

RCA has released the 1954 version on SACD while unfortunately completely ignoring the re-issue potential of the superior 1962 recording. Nevertheless, in spite of this, most people who hear the two side-by-side for a close comparison will usually choose the 1962 as the better of the two.

Or you can simply get the Davis/Amsterdam version and then you don't have to worry about it.









(Incidentally, for those of you to whom this might make any difference, Davis takes the repeat in both the 1st and 4th movements, and he also uses the "optional" cornet part in the 2nd mvt, "Un bal". I'm sure there are other recordings that also take both repeats and use the cornet part, although I can't recall just off the top of my head which ones do or don't, but I do know for certain that the Davis/Concertgebouw recording indeed does. Just in case that makes a difference for anybody.)


----------



## techniquest

> (Incidentally, for those of you to whom this might make any difference, Davis takes the repeat in both the 1st and 4th movements, and he also uses the "optional" cornet part in the 2nd mvt, "Un bal". I'm sure there are other recordings that also take both repeats and use the cornet part, although I can't recall just off the top of my head which ones do or don't, but I do know for certain that the Davis/Concertgebouw recording indeed does. Just in case that makes a difference for anybody.)


To add to this, for information's sake, the 2011 Slatkin recording on Naxos includes both versions of the 2nd movement. In standard disc chronology the more familiar version without the cornet is used, but you can substitute it for the version with the cornet (which appears at the end of the disc) if you program your player accordingly.


----------



## Pugg

realdealblues said:


> There is no best but my pick for favorite recording is Munch's 2nd recording with Boston from 1962.
> 
> View attachment 80829
> 
> 
> It's out of print but you can pick it up very cheaply used. I know several critics as well as writers for Music magazines who all agree that it's one that truly belongs in every collection. It's better played and better recorded than his first recording from the Living Stereo series that is usually recommended. This one has kind of been forgotten about but you will not find a deeper probing into the mysteries of this music than this recording in my opinion. It really is that good!
> 
> My other favorite recording is Leonard Bernstein's 2nd traversal from 1968 with the New York Philharmonic.
> View attachment 80830
> 
> 
> This one is also sadly out of print and could use a good remastering but it can be had very cheaply on the secondary market.


 Also for a download (Bernstein that is)

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Sony/SMK60968


----------



## AClockworkOrange

Two recordings of the Symphonie Fantastique I keep returning to are *Igor Markevitch & the Orchestra Lamoureux* on DG along with *Sir Thomas Beecham & the **Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Francaise*. 



















​


----------



## Guest

Well if his performance with the BPO is anything to go by






the recording by Yannick Nezet-Seguin with the Rotterdam Phil might be worth a listen.

I listened to the full concert today - I got the subscription as a Christmas present - and thoroughly enjoyed it.


----------



## clara s

1967
Charles Munch / Orch. de Paris (Passion)

1974
Colin Davis / Concertgebouw Orch. (Mystic)

1957
Dimitri Mitropoulos / New York Phil. (Romance)


----------



## Wood

I'm quite surprised that no-one has mentioned Boulez 1968 so far. It is the best version I have heard and has the added advantage of being complete, in that it comes with Lelio.


----------

