Berlioz - Les Troyens (Sir Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra) [2002]

Colin Davis’s 1969 recording remains a landmark event, the first time this grand opera of Meyerbeerian length, spectacular éclat and Wagnerian artistic ambition had found its way complete onto LP. It effectively changed views about Berlioz the opera composer and orchestral genius and has for many remained the yardstick by which all later performances have been judged. Although studio recorded, it was based on the Covent Garden casting of the day – Jon Vickers’s heroic Aeneas and Josephine Veasey’s voluptuous Dido – with a couple of Frenchmen to boost the ranks of lesser Trojans and Carthaginians.

The tantalising glimpses of Régine Crespin’s Cassandra and Dido belong to a now lost tradition which none of the singing on the new LSO disc quite emulates – with the possible exception of the delightful young French mezzo Isabelle Cals as Ascanio. Part for part, however, the LSO have assembled a cast which challenges without comprehensively surpassing that of the earlier Davis recording. Some of the comprimario singers are without doubt their predecessors’ superiors: the handsome-voiced Peter Mattei is a nobler-toned, more youthful and romantic-sounding Choroebus in his fraught interview with his ‘vierge adorée’, Cassandra; Sara Mingardo’s sumptuous contralto is luxury casting for Dido’s sister beside the admirable but plain Heather Begg. And as the Carthaginian court poet, Iopas, Kenneth Tarver’s tone catches the microphone just that bit more sweetly than Ian Partridge’s.

Any account of Les Troyens, however, stands or falls by the casting of the three central characters – Cassandra, Aeneas and Dido – and this the LSO has done with exceptional results. Michelle ­DeYoung was originally assigned Cassandra but was ‘promoted’ to Dido when Olga Borodina fell ill. Her replacement as Cassandra, the German dramatic mezzo Petra Lang, was a revelation at the Barbican, a passionate prophetess, thrilling in her imprecations against the Greeks and heroic in her suicide as Troy is consumed in flames at the close of Act 2. Her French has a slightly ‘thick’ Germanic flavour but she makes every word tell and she has the grand rhetorical manner ­Berlioz learnt from Gluck and Cherubini to the manner born.

It’s hard to imagine today – vocally at least – a more musical, more romantic, more impetuous Aeneas than Ben Heppner who brings real stylish distinction and heroic bravura to bear. Michelle DeYoung’s Dido isn’t quite so successful. Her big, bright-toned voice is less warm than Veasey’s and she has a tendency to ‘yowl’ on climactic notes. She doesn’t really convey Dido’s regal bearing either: her imperiousness is that of a bossy housekeeper rather than a great founding Queen. That said, she rises to a magnificent ‘Adieu, fier cité’ and works herself into a Medea-like rage when she threatens to serve a dismembered Ascanio as her perjured lover’s dinner..

Performer:
Choir – London Symphony Chorus
Chorus Master [Chorus Director] – Stephen Westrop
Composed By – Hector Berlioz
Conductor – Sir Colin Davis
Edited By – Tony Bridge
Engineer – Simon Rhodes
Mastered By – Tony Bridge
Orchestra – London Symphony Orchestra*
Producer – James Mallinson
Vocals – Ben Heppner, Kenneth Tarver, Michelle DeYoung, Peter Mattei, Petra Lang, Sara Mingardo, Stephen Milling

Tracklisting:
CD1 [62:21]
01. ACT ONE: Chorus: "Ha, Ha! Après dix ans" 03:51
02. Récitative et Aria: "Les Grecs ont disparu!" (Cassandra) 03:34
03. "Malheureux roi!" (Cassandra) 05:12
04. Duo "C'est lui!" (Cassandra) 01:43
05. Cavatina: "Reviens à toi, vierge adorée" (Corebus); "Pauvre âme égarée" (Corebus); "Si tu m'aimes, va-t-en" (Cassandra); "le ciel et la terre" (Corebus); "Quitte-nous dès ce soir" (Cassandra, Corebus) 14:08
06. Chorus: Marche et hymne "Dieux protecteurs de la ville éternelle" 05:42
07. Gauntlet Combat - Wrestler's Dance 01:33
08. Pantomime (Chorus, Cassandra) 08:06
09. Récitative: "Du peuple et des soldats" (Aeneas) 01:13
10. Octet & Double Chorus: "Châtiment effroyable!" (Priam, Panthus, Corebus, Aeneas, Helenus, Cassandra, Ascanius, Hécuba, Cho 06:35
11. Récitative et Chorus: "Que la déesse nous protège" (Aeneas, Priam); "À cet objet sacré formez cortège, enfants" (All) 01:35
12. Aria: "Non, je ne verrai pas la déplorable fête" (Cassandra) 02:09
13. Final (Trojan March): "De mes sens éperdus" (Cassandra, Chorus) 07:00
CD2 [68:55]
01. No 12 Scene Et Recitatif: Introduction 02:00
02. No 12 Scene Et Recitatif: Introduction 00:54
03. No 12 'O Lumiere De Troie!' (Enee) 'Ah! … Fuis, Fils De Venus' (L'Ombre d'Hector) 05:47
04. No 13 Recitatif Et Choeur 'Quelle Esperance Encor Est Permise' (Enee,Panthee, Ascagne, Chorebe) 02:34
05. No 14 Choeur (Priere) 'Ha, Puissante Cybele' (Choeur de Troyennes) 03:10
06. No 15 Recitatif Et Choeur 'Tous Ne Periront Pas' (Cassandre) 'Oh Digne Soeur D'Hector' (Choeur) 04:14
07. No 16 Final 'Complices De Sa Gloire' (Choeur, Cassandre, Un chef grec) 05:25
08. No 17 Choeur 'De Carthage Les Cieux' (Choeur du Peuple Carthaginois) 01:31
09. No 18 Chant National ' Gloire A Didon' (Choeur) 02:24
10. No 19 Recitatif Et Air 'Nous Avons Vu Finir Sept Ans A Peine' (Didon) 01:40
11. No 19 'Chers Tyriens' (Didon, Choeur) 05:29
12. No 20 Entree Des Constructeurs 01:07
13. No 21 Entree De Matelots 01:07
14. No 22 Entree Des Laboureurs 01:59
15. No 23 Recitatif Et Choeur 'Peuple! Tous Les Honneurs' (Didon, Choeur) 03:05
16. No 24 Recitatif Et Duo 'Les Chants Joyeux' (Didon, Anna) 10:41
17. No 25 Recitatif Et Air 'Echappes A Grand Peine' (Iopas, Didon) 00:29
18. No 25 'Errante Sur Les Mers' (Didon) 01:45
19. No 26 Marche Troyenne (Dans Le Mode Triste) 'J'Eprouve Une Soudaine Et Vive Impatience' (Didon) 02:02
20. No 27 Recitatif 'Auguste Reine, Un Peuple Errant Et Malheureux' (Ascagne, Didon Panthee) 03:26
21. No 28 Finale 'J'Ose A Peine Annoncer La Terrible Nouvelle!' (Narbal,Didon, Choeur) 'Reine! Je Suis Enee!' (Enee, Tous) 'An A Nos Troyens L'Entreprise Nouvelle' (Enee, Didon) 'Des Armes! Des Armes!' (Tous) 08:08
CD3 [56:23]
01. No. 29 Chasse Royale et Orage (Pantomime) 09:10
02. No. 30 Recitatif 'Dites, Narbal, Qui Cause Vos Alarmes' (Anna, Narbal) 03:29
03. No. 31 Air 'De quels Revers Menaces-tu Carthage' (Narbal) 01:43
04. No. 31 Cavatine 'Vaine Terreur' (Anna) 00:28
05. No. 31 Air et Cavatine 'De quels Rervers Menaces-tu Carthage' (Narbal, Anna) 01:50
06. No. 32 Marche pour L'Entree de la Reine 01:26
07. No. 33 Ballet Pas des Almees 04:29
08. No. 33 Ballet Danse des Esclaves 04:15
09. No. 33 Ballet Pas d'Esclaves Nubiennes 01:24
10. No. 34 Scene et Chant D'Iopas 'Assez, ma Soeur' (Didon) 02:01
11. No. 34 'O blonde Ceres' (Iopas) 04:42
12. No. 35 Recitatif et Quintette 'Pardonne Iopas' (Didon, Enee) 01:31
13. No. 35 'O Pudeur! Tout Conspire' (Didon, Enee, Anna, Iopas, Narbal) 04:40
14. No. 36 Recitatif et Septuor 'Mais Bannissons ces Tristes Souvenirs' (Enee) 00:42
15. No. 36 'Ttout n'est que Paix et Charme' (Didon, Enee, Ascagne, Anna, Iopas, Narbal, Panthee, Choeur) 04:27
16. No. 37 Duo 'Nuit D'Ivresse et Dextase Infinie' (Didon, Enee, Mercure) 10:07
CD4 [51:49]
01. No.38 - Chanson D'Hylas (Hylas, deux sentinelles) 05:35
02. No.39 - Recitatif Et Choeur 02:32
03. No.40 - DUO : Par Bacchus ! Ils sont fous avec leur Italie ! (Deux sentinelles) 02:19
04. No.41 - Recitatif Mesure Et Air (Énée) 01:44
05. No.41 - tAh ! Quand viendras l'instant des suprêmes adieux(Énée) 04:53
06. No.42 - SCÈNE Énée (Ombres, Énée) 02:24
07. No.43 - SCÈNE ET CHOEUR (Énée) - Choeur… 02:02
08. No.44 - DUO ET CHOEUR (Didon, Énée) 04:05
09. No.44 - Italie ! (Énée, les Troyens) 00:56
10. No.45 - SCÈNE : Va, ma soeur, l'implorer (Didon, Anna) 03:03
11. No.46 - SCÈNE : En mer, voyez ! Six vaisseaux ! (Choeur, Iopas, Didon, Anna, Narbal) 04:28
12. No.47 - MONOLOGUE : Ah ! Ah ! Je vais mourrir (Didon) 03:14
13. No.48 - ARIE : Adieu, fière cité(Didon) 03:47
14. No.49 - CÉRÉMONIE FUNÈBRE : Dieux de l'oubli, dieux du Ténare (Choeur des Prêtres de Pluton) 04:40
15. No.50 - SCÈNE : Pluton… semble m'être propice (Didon) 03:49
16. No.51 - CHOEUR : Ah ! Au secours ! Au secours ! La Reine s'est frappée (Tous) 01:04
17. No.52 - IMPRÉCATION : Rome…Rome…Immortelle ! (Didon) - Haine éternelle à la race…(Choeur) 01:14