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| QUOTE | Review by Blair Sanderson
In the 1950s, Charles Münch was closely associated with the orchestral music of Hector Berlioz, and his masterful recordings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra of the composer's best known works are widely considered as classics. The 1958 traversal of the intensely dramatic Harold in Italy, featuring violist William Primrose as soloist, is one of the extraordinary performances RCA recorded in its nascent three-track technology; though it has been familiar for many years in its Living Stereo mix, it sounds even bolder, richer, and deeper in the multichannel format. The combination of left, middle, and right channels creates a clear spatial relation between the orchestra and Primrose, and the viola's placement in the foreground gives it greater presence, particularly in the denser passages where the instrument's veiled tone requires a judicious instrumental balance. The four overtures, Béatrice et Bénédict, Le Corsaire, Bevenuto Cellini, and Roman Carnival, were also recorded in three-track between 1958 and 1959 and are sonic spectaculars that demonstrate how advanced RCA's systems were for their time. The flawless DSD remastering for this hybrid SACD brings these exceptional performances fully into the digital age, and the promise of RCA's early experiments in orthophonic reproduction has finally been met. |
| QUOTE | Composition Description by Graham Olson
Though the work was originally intended as a vehicle for the virtuoso violinist Nicolo Paganini to exhibit his considerable skill on the viola, Berlioz's Harold in Italy (1834) eventually became a four-movement symphony which Paganini, who wanted to be "playing all the time," eventually declined to perform. Somewhat akin to the Symphonie fantastique (1830) in its quasi-autobiographical cast and employment of a unifying idée fixe, Harold finds Berlioz imagining himself in the role of Byron's Harold for the purpose of recounting his own experiences in Italy.
The first movement, entitled "Harold in the Mountains," outlines a progression from melancholy into happiness and ultimately, into joy. The sobering fugato which opens the movement soon gives way to an uncertain melody in the woodwinds, which blossoms until the viola presents it in full as Harold's theme, the idée fixe. The movement continues its ascent into joy with an effervescent, unrelenting allegro which eases up only to allow the viola to restate the idée fixe, now fitted into another fugato, before the accelerating momentum brings the movement to an end.
Like Mendelssohn, Berlioz made the second movement of his "Italian" symphony a "Pilgrim's March." Essentially restricted to a strophic march structure, the movement is notable for its daring modulations, each marked by the tolling of two bells. The viola enters again in the middle section, lyrically presenting the idée fixe in the periphery of the passing march before taking on an accompanying role as the procession moves off into the distance.
The third movement, "Serenade of an Abruzzi Mountaineer," begins with an accurate replication of Italian bagpipes, or piferari. The rustic affect is made complete with the introduction of the serenade's main melody by the English horn. The viola restates the melody in conjunction with the idée fixe, and the movement develops as Berlioz expounds upon the counterpoint between the two melodies. A somewhat resigned coda, comprising all three elements, ends the movement on a misleadingly peaceful tone.
"The Orgy of Brigands," as the finale is titled, opens with the viola revisiting several thematic ideas from prior movements before it is unceremoniously interrupted by the brash, rhythmic power of the orgy itself. Following this brass-fueled, slightly demented fury, the viola briefly returns with the "Pilgrim's March" and a final statement of Harold's theme as the composer's nostalgic reminiscence comes to a close. |
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NetLab -> Forums -> Music -> Super Sound -> Topic: Berlioz: Harold in Italy; Overtures [Hybrid SACD]
Berlioz: Harold in Italy; Overtures [Hybrid SACD], RCA LIVING STEREO
