Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique (CD review)

Also, Le Francs-juges overture. Roger Norrington, the London Classical Players. Virgin 0946 363286-2.

When Roger Norrington made this recording of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, originally issued by EMI in 1989, it beat to the punch in the period-instruments field the Philips recording by John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique by several years. I mention this because now that Virgin Records have reissued Norrington's version at a fairly low price, the two discs are now more competitive with one another. Norrington's is cheaper; Gardiner's is slightly better.

The trouble with Norrington's performance is that if you compare it to Gardiner side by side, it seems rather stiff. Gardiner seems quite a bit more fluid, while building greater tension and excitement, especially in the final movements. Where Norrington comes off best is in the second-movement Waltz, which is a bit smoother and more flowing than the rest of the performance. Other than that, Norrington is rather mechanical and flat-footed even in the final two movements, which ought to be humorous, exciting, scary, impressive, or something along those lines.  I mean, there used to be a time when any self-proclaimed audiophile used the last two movements of the Symphonie fantastique as demo material.  So, of the two recordings I've mentioned on period instruments, it's Gardiner who gets and keeps my attention.

There are other things to consider, though, like the sound of the two discs. Norrington's recording has the advantage of greater clarity and delivery, while Gardiner's recording has greater warmth and bloom. It would have been nice to have a little of both, but both are compromises of sorts.

Still, I wouldn't discount Norrington's way with a period interpretation. As always, he attempts to follow the composer's metronome markings to the letter; it's just that the results here come off sounding more mechanical than musical. Oh, well, fans of Norrington will probably not be disappointed, and, as I say, the sound is quite good. Besides, the Norrington disc offers the Le Francs-juges overture as a bonus, and it is always fun.

JJP