# Hector Berlioz



## Music Snob (Nov 14, 2018)

I'm posting this thread under opera because I find the discussions on this board more refined and focused as opposed to the general music discussion.

I received the Dutoit Berlioz box set today. There are plenty of vocal works and opera on this set. Last week while I was listening to the normally boring and placid classical music station here in the Hudson Valley I heard the Rob Roy overtire by Berlioz... well it may be just me but I could've swore I heard a violin part that was either the inspiration for Wagners Rienzi strings, or vice versa. I know those two were acquanted.

I am new to the world of Berlioz but have Regine Crespin singing a collection of his songs. What do you all think of this artist? I'm not sure what to expect with this collection...


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I LOVE Berlioz. He is one of my favourite composers, but Dutoit is not necessarily the best guide.

Colin Davis is my "go to" for most of Berlioz's works and he has recorded pretty much everything, some works more than once. There are also some fine recordings by such conductors as Charles Munch, Pierre Monteux, John Eliot Gardiner, and John Nelson and, for a reall interesting take on his perenially original _Symphonie Fantastique_, try Les Siéces under François-Xavier Roth.

Crespin's recording of _Le nuits d'été_ is a great favourite and would no doubt be a first choice for many, but personally my favourites are Janet Baker with either Barbirolli or Giulini (not her late recording with Hickox, which was recorded too late), Steber with Mitroppoulos, De Los Angeles with Munch or Hunt Lieberson with McGegan. Crespin's air of cool detachment and soignée sophistication fits ill with the passion of these glorious songs.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Steber with Mitropoulos is my favorite for Les nuits d'été.

Mitropoulos also conducted a thrilling Requiem (Grande messe des morts), if you can tolerate the subpar sound quality of an old live performance.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I agree with Tsarras that Baker or De los Angeles are the go to singers when it comes to Les Nuits d'etes. (Although French song isn't exactly my cup of tea, Baker is beyond superb in that cycle.)

When it comes to Les Troyens the latest recording by John Nelson is a must and is much better than the Dutoit, which is probably the worst of the studio recordings. It was my first recording of the opera and I enjoyed it (great sound) until I heard other performances of it. It's a superb opera and a masterpiece despite its length. The Nelson recording with Spyres and Di Donato has everything, superb sound and engaging and dramatic conducting and singing throughout.

Nelson has also recorded Le damnation de Faust and that is similarly good. (I also like the Terfel/Lewis/Von Otter recording of that opera.)

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The thing about Berlioz: within 30 seconds you can always recognize a piece as his.


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## Music Snob (Nov 14, 2018)

After a busy day I fell asleep at 9-ish to wake up at 1am-ish. I ripped disc 16 and gave a listen to Harold en Italie. I listened to it with virgin ears and was very much impressed. The music was not very heavy in orchestration but not too light. The harmonies were just audacious enough to grab your ears without it being painful. It is not the music of a musical prodigy but of an artist who loves music and has embraced the art of music as a calling. 

Anyway, that may be a pathetic attempt at a musical criticism of sorts but I can see how he influenced the likes of Wagner and others. Not trying to out do Beethoven, he seemed to consider what he achieved and used it to do new things in music. Although very busy I plan on listening to more new pieces in the next week, perhaps Les Troyens will be next.

Was Berlioz as the 1861 Paris premiere of Tannhäuser?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Music Snob said:


> After a busy day I fell asleep at 9-ish to wake up at 1am-ish. I ripped disc 16 and gave a listen to Harold en Italie. I listened to it with virgin ears and was very much impressed. The music was not very heavy in orchestration but not too light. The harmonies were just audacious enough to grab your ears without it being painful. It is not the music of a musical prodigy but of an artist who loves music and has embraced the art of music as a calling.
> 
> Anyway, that may be a pathetic attempt at a musical criticism of sorts but I can see how he influenced the likes of Wagner and others. Not trying to out do Beethoven, he seemed to consider what he achieved and used it to do new things in music. Although very busy I plan on listening to more new pieces in the next week, perhaps Les Troyens will be next.
> 
> Was Berlioz as the 1861 Paris premiere of Tannhäuser?


There is no reference to him attending in Berlioz's _Memoirs_.


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

Music Snob said:


> Was Berlioz as the 1861 Paris premiere of Tannhäuser?


He was!

We probably wouldn't have the Wagner we know without Berlioz: http://www.hberlioz.com/Predecessors/wagner.htm


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I asked Speight Jenkins why Seattle Opera didn't do Les Troyens and he said it required such an extreme budget that there was no way. I really love some of the music in it... some is among the most beautiful I've ever heard in opera. His biography is fascinating. One reason why his music is so distinctive is most composers played piano, but he played an instrument and if my memory is correct it was a wind instrument so it effected how he thought about melody, etc.


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I asked Speight Jenkins why Seattle Opera didn't do Les Troyens and he said it required such an extreme budget that there was no way. I really love some of the music in it... some is among the most beautiful I've ever heard in opera. His biography is fascinating. *One reason why his music is so distinctive is most composers played piano, but he played an instrument and if my memory is correct it was a wind instrument so it effected how he thought about melody, etc.*


That's a very fascinating theory! He literally played almost no piano but played flute and guitar. There's an anecdote that when Wagner's friends joked with him that he plays piano so badly, Wagner answered that "at least I play better than Berlioz" :lol:.


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