Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique (1954) {Classic/RCA LSC-1900 180g} 24-bit/96kHz Vinyl Rip + Redbook CD Version

This is part of a Classic Records Deluxe 1S Edition Box Set of RCA Living Stereo "Shaded Dog" releases. This is the legendary 1954 performance of the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique that was never issued as a Living Stereo. By the time that RCA started issuing stereo LP's in 1960, Munch was scheduled to rerecorded the piece and hence the issued instead of the 54' recording which many argue is the better performance. This is one of the early Jack Pfeiffer two track recordings which capture that sense of being there that is often elusive. When Classic first issued this title in 1994, we decided to use the second or RE mono cover art because we found an original slick with the Living Stereo banner in the RCA archives. This confirmed that RCA had intended to release this performance as LSC 1900 but never actually did so. We reasoned that this is what RCA would have used for artwork and as such what we should use as well. After our first issue of LSC 1900, Jack Pfeiffer shared with us that he was never happy with the RE cover and would have preferred the original mono cover converted to Living Stereo with the addition of the banner across the top of the jacket. As a tribute to a legendary producer and supporter of the Classic Records RCA Living Stereo reissue series we are proud to reissue LSC 1900 with the original mono artwork with the Living Stereo Banner appropriately applied across the top of the jacket. In listening to the Symphonie Fantastique (Classic Records LSC-1900) we immediately sense the light and frothy, ineffably 'French' sound that Munch is able to draw forth from the Boston Symphony players. The rubato phrasing in the first movement is enchanting and we are amazed by the see-into transparency revealed by the shuffling of the instrumentalists during quiet passages. The phrasing of the first violins is exquisitely delicate. Forte passages are wall-to-wall, with the idee-fixe carried by the trumpet deep to the right. Munch has supple control of the crescendi and decrescendi. The listener is drawn into Boston Symphony Hall through space and time by the transparency of the details and the realism of the dynamics. In the fourth movement we note the superb layering and depth in the counterpoint of the tympani and clarinet. Berlioz pulls out all the stops in the finale and we are treated to the clanging gong, trombones, tubas and breathy flutes. Overall, the music is fluid and breathtakingly dynamic.

LP track listing

Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique

Side One

1. "Appassionata" - 13:18
2. "Waltz" - 6:08

Side Two

3. "Pastoral" - 13:53
4. "Death March" - 4:31
5. "Witches' Dance" - 8:44


Released: [Classic Records reissue 1994 - see notes above regarding RCA and this album]
Recorded: 1954
Genre: Classical
Length: 46:34
Label: RCA Living Stereo/Classic Records
Producers: Michael Hobson, Ying Tan

Personnel

Boston Symphony Orchestra/Charles Munch, Conductor







The Classic Records Deluxe 1S Edition Box Set includes:
LSC1806 Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra (Reiner, CSO)
LSC1900 Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique (Munch, BSO)
LSC2398 Kabalevsky - The Comedians (Kondrashin, RCAVO)
LSC2456 Lalo - Symphony Espagnole (Szeryng, Hendl, CSO)
LSC1934 Bartok - Concerto For Orchestra (Reiner, CSO)
LSC2500 Strauss - Waltzes (Reiner, CSO)
LSC2423 Festival (Reiner, CSO)
LSC2541 Liszt - Todtentanz & Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Janis, Reiner, CSO)
LSC2234 Saint-Saens - Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rubinstein, Wallenstein, SOA)
LSC2471 Rhapsodies (Stokowski, RCAVO)