Quote:
Originally Posted by strandinthewind
I am unsure if David is into Berlioz. I cannot imagine he does not appreciate the influence of Beethoven on The Symphonie Fantastique, though Berlioz’s originality shines in that as well - he went, if you will, somewhat where LVB never went for whatever reason.
For me, this is sublime:
(mostly good production IMO - though I have seen it with church bells - actually, I saw the 1812 outside one time when the condutor used what appeared to be all the churches in town  -- needless to say the entire audience burst into tears mostly in unison )
Almost Wagnerian isn't it - did I just say that  |
There’s no doubt that he liked to have these huge orchestras producing a bewildering scale of sound, so I guess in that respect there is a touch of Wagner to it. It is actually the songs he wrote for voice and piano that I like. They were quite complex arrangements, but beautifully structured for the female voice in particular, I think.
My problem with Symphonie Fantastique is that I have heard it played a lot and often by less strong orchestras and ensembles. It is sadly one of those pieces that musicians ‘have a go at’ when they should leave well alone. This did sound good but I prefer to listen to the piano transcription, I think it is by Liszt, I’m not sure. It is good, in fact I must try and find it.
Berlioz met Richard Wagner and it would have been interesting to know what they had to say to one another. Wagner’s Parsifal is my favourite opera and probably my favourite 4 hours of classical music. As competent as he was, Berlioz didn’t reach the heights of Wagner but had Beethoven persisted with the opera form, I might be sat here saying that one of his was my favourite
.
It is so good that we all have different tastes in music......... there isn’t such a thing as good or bad taste, just different….I think