Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ (complete oratorio)
$40.00
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HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ (complete oratorio)
Andrew Goodwin, Shane Lowrencev, Matthew Brook, Sasha Cooke / Melbourne Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Andrew Davis
[ Chandos SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD ]
Release Date: Sunday 10 March 2019
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
Berlioz wrote his own text for L'Enfance du Christ, which he composed in 1853 and 1854. It was first performed at the Salle Herz, Paris on 10 December 1854, with Berlioz conducting. Berlioz was not religious as an adult but remained all his life susceptible to the beauty of the religious music that had enraptured him as a child, he described this work as a Trilogie sacrée. Sir Andrew Davis conducts the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and MSO Chorus and an outstanding team of soloists in this Surround Sound SACD recording.
"The marvelous solo singers are utterly convincing, from Andrew Staples' mellow tenor as the Narrator and Matthew Brook's complex Herod, to the love of Joseph and Mary (Roderick Williams and Sasha Cooke) for their baby and their rush to escape. The chorus of the Melbourne Symphony as shepherds and angels is dreamily lovely. " 10/10 ClassicsToday
"All the soloists are excellent, and thoughtful casting among the four baritones and bass-baritones has allotted the Israelite father to Matthew Brook, who brings just that touch of extra warmth to the role. Chorus and orchestra add further lustre to this superb enterprise, in which Andrew Davis's love for the music shines through in every bar." BBC Music Five Stars
"Sasha Cooke makes a radiant Mary opposite Roderick Williams's tenderly solicitous Joseph…The Melbourne Symphony, meanwhile, sound very warm and plush, perhaps a bit too much so for some tastes in this work, but their playing is beautifully articulated and detailed. The set's principal strength, however, lies in the choral singing, which is superb throughout in its clarity, balance and dynamic control." Gramophone
