Charles Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra - Hector Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (1962) [Official Digital Download - HDTT 2012]

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Charles Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra - Hector Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (1962) [Official Digital Download - HDTT 2012]

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Charles Münch, Boston Symphony Orchestra - Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (1962/2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time - 49:01 minutes | 1,92 GB
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time - 49:01 minutes | 1020 MB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: CD Artwork

In any event, it became and has remained one of the most popular orchestral works in the classical repertoire. In the hands of Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the acknowledged mid-twentieth century leaders of French music performance, it is predictably clear, light, airy, and utterly refined. In this superbly engineered transfer from a four track RCA analogue tape (1962) made in Boston's Symphony Hall, even in its richest instrumental sections, it literally floats before us, naturally warm and breathy. Low strings are especially present, well-defined, and full, grounding the work but without raising any Dionysian issues. This is an early nineteenth century fantasy, Munch reminds us: Freud is not yet on the scene. The famous "March to the Scaffold" takes place in splendidly bright, brass-lit sunlight. And the "Dream of the Witches' Sabbath" is a manic olio of puckishness, melodrama, and brio, ending in one of music history's most fulsome conclusions. It is all seemingly composed to show off the virtuosity of the orchestra, which it does in spades. It is a veritable guide to the orchestra, precursor of Britten's nearly a century later.