Harold en Italie

""[Tamestit] is very fine indeed, and elevates this performance to something above the mediocre...[Gergiev] controls the opening fugato in a way that is brooding and mysterious without ever sounding too gloomy, and the gathering excitement of the rest of the first movement comes across very naturally in his hands, backed by exciting playing from the orchestra every step of the way, with a conclusion that is suitably headlong".

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" James Ehnes performs the solos in the Rêverie et caprice and Harold en Italie with lyrical expressiveness and a sweet tone that works well with the tender and passionate moods in both works. The orchestra plays with great energy and a full sound, though at no time is Ehnes' playing overwhelmed".

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"Recommended: Roth has an impressive hinterland as a Berlioz interpreter ... Harold en Italie is a most unusual and original work ... The present soloist is Tabea Zimmermann. I believe she has recorded it twice before ... Here, as well as the artistry of Zimmermann we can relish the distinctive timbres and textures of the period instruments used by Les Siècles. The significance of the orchestral contribution is in evidence right from the start ... This is a magnificent performance. Tabea Zimmermann is a superb and very characterful soloist while the virtuoso musicians of Les Siècles make one hear this highly original score with fresh ears. François-Xavier Roth's idiomatic conducting seems flawless to me. This is a revelatory Harold. And revelatory is the word I would apply also to the performance of Les Nuits d'été ... Degout's firm, forward projection of his voice gives great pleasure ... And please may we have more from Roth and Les Siècles".

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"Recording of the week: The distinctive sonorities of their narrow-bore woodwinds and gut strings throw as much new light upon Berlioz's High Romantic, Gothic and at times almost psychedelic sound-world as they did upon Debussy's more ethereal writing ... Dégout delves into the cycle's ambiguities with the textual sensitivity and wide range of subtle vocal colours which have made him such an outstanding Pélleas ... Consistently compelling and in places downright revelatory".

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"These two works are impressively recorded ... Karen Cargill gives a gripping account of The death of Cleopatra ... The performance gathers force as it proceeds ... Berlioz's extraordinary ending is fully realised through the brilliance of the LSO's string section".

"Lisa Berthaud makes a fine violist for Berlioz's Harold ... She has a warm, gently husky tone ... Slatkin handles admirably the long, slow crescendo ... He is less effective with the rhythmic energy ... The violin is charmingly played by Giovanni Radivo".

"Berthaud's first viola solo, backed by the harp and interspersed with expressive clarinets, is beautifully played. Slatkin lilts us into the main Allegro as persuasively as anyone this side of the analogue divide ... The two overtures are excellently played, both benefiting from Slatkin's familiar skill at clarifying orchestral textures".

"Davis and his production team have worked hard to keep James Ehnes's quite ravishingly beautiful playing in focus ... It sounds as if Davis sees the work as more lyrical and Romantic ... than as a sequel to the experimentation of the Fantastique ... He sets his soloist off well and gives worthwhile accounts of the shorter pieces".

"How delightful that François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles have returned to Berlioz this year, the 150th anniversary of his death ... This new recording with Tabea Zimmermann has much to recommend it [Harold en Italie] ... Zimmermann offers a darker, grainier tone than her earlier LSO Live account with Colin Davis but her approach hasn't changed much ... The Pilgrims trudge purposefully ... and Roth instils fire into the last movement's orgy ... One couldn't imagine a more sensitive baritone than Stephane Dégout, yet his burnished sound has plenty of muscle too ... The burbling Siècles woodwinds are joyous".