LSO, Valery Gergiev - Berlioz: Harold en Italie (2015) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Violist Antoine Tamestit and mezzo-soprano, Karen Cargill, join forces with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev, in the latest instalment of their Berlioz exploration. Composed in 1834 at the suggestion of Paganini and completed in Montmartre, 'Harold en Italie' received its first performance at the Conservatoire de Paris later that year. Taking inspiration from Lord Byron s 'Childe Harold s Pilgrimage', 'Harold en Italie' is among the most poetic of Berlioz s oeuvre, its ingenious use of solo viola charting the dreamy Harold s wanderings throughout the Italian countryside and the characters encountered along the way. In this new recording Antoine Tamestit brings a forthright personality to the hero. 'Maestro Gergiev s deep musicianship added the sort of instinctive passion one needs with Berlioz and especially with 'Harold en Italie'. All of this was overwhelmingly inspiring for me and made these concerts and recordings a truly unique and unforgettable experience,' says Tamestit. Karen Cargill gives an emotionally intense performance of the dramatic cantata for 'La mort de Cléopâtre' adding to her already formidable reputation in the Berlioz canon. She says, 'La mort de Cléopâtre is a monumental work, grand in drama, orchestration and vocally challenging. The scope of the piece is huge, not only emotionally it has a vocal range of over two octaves within only a few pages, ultimately quite operatic in delivery. Pacing the work is a huge part of performing it, allowing the character to recollect, reflect and ultimately act. The death scene is so wonderfully written, so simple and real.'

If you didn't get enough of the electric conductor last week, his two new recordings (LSO0760 Berlioz Harold en Italie & MAR0553 Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibtion) rank among his best. Berlioz's Harold in Italy with the London Symphony Orchestra (on LSO Live) significantly features French violist Antoine Tamestit. Though his tone isn't captured in optimum sound, his sense of interpretive focus is. Philly.com –Philly.com

'Impressively recorded … There's not much to choose between the two soloists; both play beautifully … Karen Cargill gives a gripping account of The Death of Cleopatra … Berlioz's extraordinary ending is fully realised through the brilliance of the LSO's string section.' –Duncan Druce - Gramophone, April 2015

'An impressive range of tone and emotion [La mort de Cleopatre]' –Martin Cotton - BBC Music Magazine, May 2015

TRACKLIST

Harold en Italie, Op.16
with Antoine Tamestit (viola)

01. I. Harold aux Montagnes - Scènes de mélancolie, de bonheur de joie - Adagio - Allegro (15:07)
02. II. Marche de pèlerins chantant le prière du soir - Allegretto (7:59)
03. III. Sérénade d'un montagnard des abruzzes á sa maîtresse - Allegro assai - Allegretto (6:26)
04. IV. Orgie de Brigands. Souvenirs des scènes précédentes - Allegro frenectico - Adagio - Allegro (12:56)

La mort de Cléopâtre
with Karen Cargill (mezzo-soprano)

05. I. Scène Lyrique - Allegro vivace con impeto - Lento cantible (9:36)
06. II. Méditation - Largo misterioso - Allegro assai agitato (11:05)