add to wish list | library


9 of 10 recommend this,
would you recommend it?

yes | no

Support this site by purchasing from these vendors using the paid links below. As an Amazon Associate SA-CD.net earns from qualifying purchases.
 
amazon.ca
amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
amazon.de
 
amazon.fr
amazon.it
 
jpc

Discussion: Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique - Gergiev

Posts: 21
Page: prev 1 2 3 next

Post by Disbeliever October 7, 2014 (11 of 21)
Luukas said:

Well, this is very interesting release from London Symphony Orchestra. I heard Sir Colin Davis' recording long time ago, and it got many great awards. This is grippy and powerful account, and Blu-ray Audio brings more details. What do you think?

Have bought the LSO 2 disc set have only watched part of the BD ,very boring to watch, will have to try the SACD, good value for two discs however I prefer to just listen .After reading the review on Amazon UK site I do not think I will bother to listen to the SACD.

Post by rammiepie October 8, 2014 (12 of 21)
Disbeliever said:

Have bought the LSO 2 disc set have only watched part of the BD ,very boring to watch, will have to try the SACD, good value for two discs however I prefer to just listen .After reading the review on Amazon UK site I do not think I will bother to listen to the SACD.

Just watched the 57 minute video tonight. Two Channel PCM 48/24 unlike the 5.0 BD~A/ DSD~recorded SACD.

A wonderful performance, very straightforwardly shot with a stage perspective.

Sound and picture: superb.

Gergiev could use a shave!

Post by Luukas December 11, 2014 (13 of 21)
Harold in Italy, Op. 16 is the next release. I'm looking forward...

Post by Joseph Ponessa March 2, 2015 (14 of 21)
rammiepie said:

Gergiev could use a shave!

Agreed.

Thanks for mentioning the video. I found it far more interesting than the audio-only portion of the same disc. I liked the audio quality of the video portion better, too.

In the case of this release, the SACD was superior to either the video or the audio on the blu-ray, with more bloom around the notes, which is critically important in this music. This joins an array of many fine Symphonies fantastiques on SACD.

Post by Chris from Lafayette March 2, 2015 (15 of 21)
rammiepie said:

. . .

Gergiev could use a shave!

Your comment reminds me that, some years ago, shortly after Gergiev was profiled on CBS's "60 Minutes", I came to work the next day and a co-worker asked me if I had seen the program. I said yes. So my co-worker asked, "Is that the way he always looks? He looks like a. . . a homeless person!" ;-)

Anyway, just to comment on one other item in this thread, I haven't yet heard the Gergiev/LSO "Harold in Italy", but, a couple of weeks ago, I did acquire the Slatkin/Lyon version on blu-ray. So far, IMHO, these Slatkin/Lyon blu-ray audios of works by Berlioz and Ravel have been impossibly bland, but I thought the presence of a babe violist (Lise Berthaud) might get his juices flowing a bit for this "Harold" release. No way! It's just as bland and careful as his earlier releases in Lyon have been, despite the fact the Lise herself plays in a very interesting way, with imaginative phrasing and tone color. Slatkin should confine his recordings to Detroit - his colorful Copland blu-ray with the DSO is a world apart from his Lyon recordings. I also hope Gergiev and the LSO will get it right as far as Harold is concerned!

Might as well use this post to link to another picture of Lise!

Post by rammiepie March 2, 2015 (16 of 21)
Chris from Lafayette said:

Your comment reminds me that, some years ago, shortly after Gergiev was profiled on CBS's "60 Minutes", I came to work the next day and a co-worker asked me if I had seen the program. I said yes. So my co-worker asked, "Is that the way he always looks? He looks like a. . . a homeless person!" ;-)

Anyway, just to comment on one other item in this thread, I haven't yet heard the Gergiev/LSO "Harold in Italy", but, a couple of weeks ago, I did acquire the Slatkin/Lyon version on blu-ray. So far, IMHO, these Slatkin/Lyon blu-ray audios of works by Berlioz and Ravel have been impossibly bland, but I thought the presence of a babe violist (Lise Berthaud) might get his juices flowing a bit for this "Harold" release.

So, what you're essentially saying, Chris from Lafayette, is that Gergiev could use a shave and Slatkin could use a babe.

Very funny, indeed!

Stunning picture of an exotically talented beauty, though...and Zing went the Strings of My Heart!

Post by wehecht March 2, 2015 (17 of 21)
Chris from Lafayette said:

Anyway, just to comment on one other item in this thread, I haven't yet heard the Gergiev/LSO "Harold in Italy"...

I did, just last night, and even allowing for the fact that as a piece of music "Harold" is not so "Fantastique", Gergiev's rendition is just dull as dishwater.

Post by rammiepie March 2, 2015 (18 of 21)
wehecht said:

I did, just last night, and even allowing for the fact that as a piece of music "Harold" is not so "Fantastique", Gergiev's rendition is just dull as dishwater.

So, in other words, Bill, via Gergiev's prosaic rendition, Harold never quite made it to Italy and is now on a slow boat to China.

Thanks for the heads~up, though. Will pass on that one.

Post by Chris from Lafayette March 2, 2015 (19 of 21)
wehecht said:

I did, just last night, and even allowing for the fact that as a piece of music "Harold" is not so "Fantastique", Gergiev's rendition is just dull as dishwater.

Yeah, sorry to hear that. What's with these conductors today who interpret Harold as if he's an old geezer? Going back to the Slatkin recording for a second, I will say that the engineering in Lyon seems to have improved just a bit over earlier releases. Of course, that doesn't help Slatkin's geriatric conducting in this work.

Post by BrunoS March 4, 2015 (20 of 21)
Am I the only one to find the interpretation boring and the sound rather dry?

Page: prev 1 2 3 next

Closed