Audition - Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique - DG, BSO/Ozawa
Audition - Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique - DG,
We forget, perhaps, how well paired Ozawa and the Boston orchestra were in his reign as Music Director between 1973 and 2002. Ozawa had a very special touch as light as a feather and an even finer ear for texture. And it was these qualities which responded well in his conducting of French music - Ravel especially. But in the vast variety of French music Berlioz was something extra special. It requires the tensile force in both his pictorialism and highly dramatic narrative.
The Boston orchestra play beautifully but a little carefully. Ozawa maintains his sharp eared reputation for characterisation in all sections and especially the percussion.
The first three movements are so wonderfully lyrical and filled with detail that you might say it’s typically French. But as the bucolic moves into something more visceral the orchestra seems a bit underpowered.
The last two dramatic movements are winsome and graceful at first. But these qualities don’t reflect the high drama of the gruesome narrative and he substitutes menace with something more cultivated and contained. It’s not going to work like that.
Worse still there’s none of the sheer terror and enormity of momentum (Minkowski final coda) or power (Karajan - utilising church bells) we hear in other versions. Keeping it civil is at odds with the demands of the score. It’s sad neither the orchestra or conductor and carve a savage picture of the musical horrors. One I think for the chance moments of repose not the ensuing battle.
Performance 7 out of ten
Interpretation 4 out of ten
Recording 6 out of ten
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