Swedish Radio Symphony Orch, Robin Ticciati – Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Swedish Radio Symphony Orch, Robin Ticciati – Berlioz: Romeo et Juliette (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:34:04 minutes | 1,63 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Linn Records

Alongside new versions by Valery Gergiev and Sr Andrew Davis, this might seem in danger of being overwhelmed. Robin Ticciatti, though, has proved to be a special Berlioz interpreter, and offers an individual, youthful reading: swifter, airy rather than lush, driven by crisp detail and translucent textures and Berlioz’s vital rhythmic spring. In the pivotal Love Scene and ‘Queen Mab’ scherzo Ticciati seems much more intimate and delicate than the rival alternatives, although he unleashes appropriate power in ‘Tumulte’, for example, and the conclusion.

There’s also, for me, a keener sense of the work’s structure, although less of Gergiev’s operatic drama or Sir Colin Davis’s tragic intensity. The Swedish chorus is slightly less precise than the LSO singers, but sounds more intimate, as does Katija Dragojevic’s mezzo, purer and lighter than Gergiev’s Borodina. Andrew Staples sings the Mab solos with verve, if slightly less elegantly than Kenneth Tarver. Alistair Miles’s veteran Lawrence still summons up powerful authority, although his French hasn’t improved since his earlier recording; however, neither he nor Gergiev’s Yevgeny Nikitin match predecessors like David Ward, for Pierre Monteux. Still, if freshness and vitality appeal more than sheet richness, try listening to this.–Michael Scott Rohan “BBC Music Magazine”

Tracklist:

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

Roméo et Juliette
No. 1
1. Introduction instrumentale : Combats – Tumulte – Intervention du Prince 4:43
2. Prologue : Récitatif harmonique : “D’anciennes haines endormies” 5:11
3. Strophes : “Premiers transports que nul n’oublie!” 6:01
4. “Bientôt de Roméo” – Scherzetto vocal : “Mab, la messagère” 3:20
No. 2 : Andante et Allegro
5. Roméo seul. Tristesse – Bruit lontain de bal et de concert 6:57
6. Grande fête chez Capulet 5:55
No. 3 : Scène d’amour
7. Nuit sereine. Le jardin de Capulet, silencieux et désert 18:53
No. 4 : Scherzo
8. La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 8:10
No. 5 : Convoi funèbre de Juliette
9. “Jetez des fleurs pour la vierge expirée!” 9:29
No. 6 : Roméo au tombeau des Capulets
10. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets 1:33
11. Invocation – Réveil de Juliette – Joie délirante, désespoir, dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 6:18
No. 7 : Final
12. La foule accourt au cimetière – Rixe des Capulets et des Montagus 4:08
Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence :
13. Air : “Pauvres enfants que je pleure” 8:43
14. Serment de réconciliation 4:44

Download: