The Bitter Fruit of Obsessive Love

Some thoughts on Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Detail from a caricature of Hector Berlioz by Anton Elfinger.
The caption read: "Heureusement la salle est solide... elle résiste." © 1982 University of Chicago Press.

If you've read Superconductor since the beginning you know that this blog has spent a lot of column length on the music of Hector Berlioz. Berlioz was an author and a music critic (much like your humble narrator.) He was also a revolutionary and romantic composer who cut an eccentric but fearless path through the cutthroat world of the Paris music scene in his lifetime. His Symphonie-fantastique, which burst upon the world in 1829, was one of the reasons for the rise of program music in the 19th century. Even more revolutionary was his use of a recurring motif or idée-fixe, whose development over the course of five movements predicted the Wagnerian idea of leitmotif.

Concert Review: A History of Violence

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra return to Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Riccardo Muti (on podium) leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine
at Carnegie Hall on Friday night. Photo © 2018 Chicago Symphony Orchestra. 

Mention the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a room of classical music cognoscenti and you are likely to get the following reactions: a sigh of pleasure, a small smile, or a comment about the sonic size and vigor of their legendary brass section, who, in a city if big shoulders, cast the widest possible shadow. That orchestra and its leader Ricardo Muti are back in New York for their semi-annual visit to Carnegie Hall, and Friday night marked the first of two New York programs this weekend.

Concert Review: Transcendence Ain't Easy

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Turangalîla-Symphonie.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel led the Turangalîla-Symphonie
at Carnegie Hall on Saturday night. Image © 2016 Deutsche Grammophon/UMG

Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie is one of the most original and uncompromising large-scale compositions for orchestra of the 20th century. Its 1949 premiere polarized the music world. Sixty-seven years later, performances of this work have the power to enthrall or repel even the most hardened audience. Because of its unwieldy length, stringent instrumental requirements, it is not heard often. It was a bold choice for Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and their leader Gustavo Dudamel, forming the entire content of Saturday night's concert at Carnegie Hall.

Concert Review: Dreaming in Color

Bernard Haitink and the BSO play Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Susan Graham (left) and Bernard Haitink perform Ravel's Shéhérezade last week at Symphony Hall.
Photo by Stu Rosner © 2014 Boston Symphony Orchestra.

For the second of their two concerts this week at Carnegie Hall, Bernard Haitink and the Boston Symphony Orchestra chose to devote an evening to the music of Maurice Ravel. This Swiss-born composer is known for precise musical construction and delicate orchestration--with a small but memorable output of works that can have the character of a complicated time-piece. However, this superb pairing of orchestra and conductor found emotional depth in these pieces, achieved through a high standard of performance.

Obituary: Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013)

A small catalogue, and a huge impact.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Composer Henri Dutilleux died May 22, 2013 in Paris, France.

The great French composer Henri Dutilleux has died in Paris. He was 97.

Dutilleux helped guide the path of concert music in the 20th century away from the serial techniques first practiced by Schoenberg and Webern. His two Symphonies and Cello Concerto are among his most important works, complex pieces that challenged the ear while fearlessly breaking ground in the use of modes and atonality. A fierce self-critic, Dutilleux published a small catalogue of pieces over a long compositional career.

Concert Review: The Frantic Romantic

Lalo and Berlioz at the Philharmonic
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A man and his Stradivarius: Augustin Hadelich.
Photo from the artist's website.

The Spanish conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos opened a two-week stand at the New York Philharmonic on Thursday night. The program played to this conductor's strengths, exploring two intricately connected works of 19th century French repertory: the Symphonie espagnole by Édouard Lalo and Hector Berlioz' evergreen Symphonie fantastique.

Despite its title, Lalo's "symphony" is actually a violin concerto, written for (and premeired by)  violinist Pablo de Sarasate in 1875. Lalo's work falls in with the French craze for music with Spanish seasoning, incorporating the solo violin part in five sunny movements that evoke the most picturesque aspects of Iberian life.

The solo part was played by the talented Augustin Hadelich, a violinist who overcame serious injuries from a fire in his teenage years to emerge as a brilliant artist. Mr. Hadelich played with a clean, rich tone that soared into the highest registers of the instrument before diving earthward in a series of ever-more-complicated runs. Sensitively accompanied by Mr. Frühbeck, this performance made a good case for works by Lalo to be heard more often.

Opera Review: Divorce, English Style

Read my review of Henry VIII on The Classical Review.

Catherine of Aragon (left) and her lady-in-waiting (and successor) Anne Boleyn.
The two Queens figure prominently in Saint-Saëns' opera Henry VIII.
Photo manipulation by the author. 

Those of you who read this blog know that my writing sometimes appears on sources other than Superconductor. That said, here's a link to my review of the Camille Saint-Saëns opera  Henry VIII, which closed the 2012 Bard Music Festival in regal fashion on Sunday afternoon.

Here's an excerpt, to whet your...axe.

"The jewels in this performance’s crown were the two queens: soprano Ellie Dehn as Catherine of Aragon and mezzo Jennifer Holloway as Anne Boleyn. Dehn began as an icy presence, but that facade cracked as the reality of her situation became apparent. She achieved dramatic heights in the final act, with a long aria that recalled the plight of another operatic queen in a similar circumstance: Elisabeth de Valois in Verdi's Don Carlos. "

The Superconductor Interview: On the Roof with Alexandre Tharaud

The French pianist plays, then talks to Superconductor.
by Paul Pelkonen

A man and his keys Alexandre Tharaud

The words "piano recital" conjure images of the big stage, a jet-black Steinway grand  under a bright spotlight. For pianist Alexandre Tharaud, his April 9 recital at Le Poisson Rouge had a very different atmosphere. Mr. Tharaud took the stage with a lean, casual grace, casting spells with longkh fingers on the (baby) grand in the underground Greenwich Village club.

Concert Review: The Last Pictures Show

Stucky, Berlioz and Mussorgsky at the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul Pelkonen.

The Hut of Baba Yaga: Clock designed by Vladimir Hartmann
for the original art show that inspired Pictures at an Exhibition.

Normally, a Superconductor review of a New York Philharmonic concert is based on the first or second nights of a run of concerts. Due to scheduling issues (chiefly caused by the presence of the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, Tuesday night presented the rare opportunity to review the last of a set of subscription concerts.

This program, curated by Alan Gilbert, brought together works that are preoccupied primarily with visual imagery. Son et Lumiere by Steven Stucky evokes the grand sound-and-light displays that entertain visitors to the Egyptian pyramids. Berlioz' Nuits d'Eté evoke the richness of "Summer Nights." And Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (with orchestration by Maurice Ravel) chronicles a visit to an art exhibition by the composer's friend Vladimir Hartmann.

The concert opened with a new work from composer and Cornell professor Stephen Stucky. Son et lumiere is written in Mr. Stucky's ne-minimalist style. Sharp stabs of brass interact with complex percussion rhythms. At first harsh and unwelcoming, the sound-world blossoms into brief aural pleasure in the very last pages.

Although she is known for cross-dressing turns in Le Nozze di Figaro, Le Comte Ory and Ariadne Auf Naxos, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato was a powerful and decidedly feminine presence in Berlioz' six-song cycle Nuits d'Eté.. This set--one of the few works that Berlioz wrote for piano and voice, were presented here in the luxurious orchestration of 1856, which seems to drip with nostalgia and old-world decadence.

Flowers and water imagery are central to Berlioz' imagery. Ms. DiDonato brightened these already rich tonal colors with her quicksilver mezzo--bringing out the deep emotions that are written into each of these songs and singing with a lyrical flow that was glorious for sounding entirely natural. Mr. Gilbert's leadership brightened these colors further, conveying the rich complexity of Berlioz' orchestration.

Pictures at an Exhibition remains a Philharmonic war-horse. Alan Gilbert brought some new colors to this famous gallery visit, with some jarring tempo ideas to liven up Gnomus,and a moody, evocative The Old Castle featured evocative bassoon playing and the famous saxophone solo. A thunderous Bydlo set the table for the last pictures on the program, with some rock-solid tuba playing from Alan Baer.

The Catacombs were appropriately mysterious. The Hut of Baba Yaga shuddered and screamed. The Great Gate of Kiev, dominated by the percussion and brass, was an uplifting portrayal, working the original Promenade theme back into the orchestration and letting the concert end on a mighty chord.
Contact the author: E-mail Superconductor editor Paul Pelkonen.

Concert Review: The Golden Road to Samarkand

Leon Botstein explores Orientalism in France.

Your guide to the East: conductor Leon Botstein. Photo by Karl Rabe.

On Friday night, Leon Botstein led the American Symphony Orchestra and his Carnegie Hall audience in another journey of the deep corners of the catalogue. This concert delved into the sensual delights of 19th century French music, specificially works tinged with the smoky, opiate flavor of "Orientalism." (In this context, the "Orient" encompasses north Africa, the Muslim world, and India.) Incorporating musical influences from those lands was the height of fashion for composers like Franck, Saint-Saëns and Georges Bizet.

The program opened with Orient et Occident, a tripartite march by the clever Saint-Saëns that contrasted "Eastern" percussion and minor-key melodies with "Western" ideas derived from Bach. The highlight: a five-part fugue that firmly anchored the work in the Western milieu. (Saint-Saëns was a master contrapuntalist.) This work was a tease for next summer's Bard Festival, (also directed by Dr. Botstein) which will focus on his music.

Conductor and orchestra then shifted perspectives, moving forward to the fin de siècle for Ravel's little-heard Shéhérezhade Overture, an early (1898) example of the composer's ouevre which owes a strong debt to Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral technique. This work featured a vast sweep of tonal colors, knitted together by Ravel's mechanically precise musical

For the four Poémes Hindous by Maurice Delage (a Ravel pupil) the orchestra was pared down to a string quartet plus wind octet, accompanying Julia Bullock on these dreamy wanders through the landscape of the subcontinent. These were the most exotic works on the program, written by a composer who actually lived in India for a time. Ms. Bullock sang with warmth and power, the smooth French unwinding like a mysterious river through a shadowy land.

The full orchestra returned for Les Djinns a challenging one-movement tone poem for piano and orchestra. Soloist Julia Zilberquit created thrilling effect wth a smooth, singing tone and a legato that seemed to flow from her fingers. The sound of her instrument materialized  through richly woven orchestration like one of the manifestations of the Arabian Nights. 


The concert ended with a near-complete performance of Georges Bizet's Djamileh, a three-handed one-act opera about a wealthy slave-owner in Egypt who falls for one of his harem girls. This early Bizet opera was a favorite of Gustav Mahler in Vienna. It was originally given in repertory with La princesse jaune, another "Oriental" one-acter by Saint-Saëns. It would be fascinating to see them paired à la Cav/Pag.

Mezzo Eve Gugliotti (last seen in Dark Sisters) was affecting in the title role, which is like a nice version of Carmen. She brought sultry warmth and emotion to the part. Tenor Colin Ainsworth displayed a fine, precise instrument with fresh, youthful tone as the callow Haroun. Baritone Philip Cutlip was a good foil as Splendiano, the major-domo, although he indulged in a distracting ad lib in the middle of the work.

Concert Review: Roast Goose with Chestnuts

The New York Philharmonic's holiday feast.
by Paul Pelkonen.

Cooking with a baton: New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2011 The New York Philharmonic.

On Wednesday night, the plain hardwood walls of Avery Fisher Hall's stage were draped with long skiens of crimson and purple fabric. I asked an usher on the way in, why the adornment?

"Oh, it's the holidays," she said. "And we're glad to have Alan Gilbert back."

This concert marked the first return of the Philharmonic music director to his home podium after a two-month absence, including a tour of Europe. But the program chosen for his return was dull by this conductor's standards, featuring familiar works by Haydn, Schubert and Ravel.


The concert opened with Haydn's Symphony No. 88, a rarely heard piece that stands as a kind of "odd man out" between its more famous brothers written for Paris and London. The work shows Haydn in post-Ezterházy experimentation,  expanding his orchestral palette. Mr. Gilbert took an incisive approach to the four movements, drawing crisp textures from the timpani and percussion and some lyric playing from principal cellist Carter Brey.

The orchestra was then joined by Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter for a set of Schubert songs, heard here in orchestral transcription. The selections were a "greatest hits" from the huge Schubert catalogue. Ms. von Otter's voice may be narrowing, but she still proves an engaging storyteller and a compelling stage presence.
Highlights were the Britten orchestration of Die Forelle ("The Trout") and Max Reger's mournful, searching version of Gretchen am Spinnerade, based on Goethe's Faust. The set ended with the same composer's version of Erlkönig. Although the orchestration lacks the impact of the piano original, Ms. von Otter drew chills when she changed voices and embodied Schubert's supernatural kidnapper.


The second half of the concert opened with the charming ballet suite Ma mère l'oye, Ravel's setting of children's stories commonly accredited to one Mother Goose. This work has its origin in a set of five works for piano four hands, written for the Swiss composer's niece and nephew. Here, it was Mr. Gilbert who made a case for the orchestrated version, drawing shimmering, exotic textures from the Philharmonic players.

In its orchestrated form, Ravel's orchestration allowed the listener to experience instruments that are not always featured. Especially interesting to the ear was the virtuoso part for contrabassoon, (played here by Arlen Fast)  in Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête and the soaring walls of sound built by the horns and trombones. The final orchestral swell of Le Jardin féerique rose to an inspired height, buoyed by trumpets, oboe and clarinet.

The concert climaxed with La Valse, another reliable piece by Ravel. This allowed the percussionists to shine as the orchestra (finally appearing at full strength) swung through the demented triple-time textures and expertly navigated the pitfalls of meter and rhythm written meticulously into the score. Mr. Gilbert turned terpsichorean himself, dancing on the podium as the waltz turned and whirled. He seems more relaxed conducting without a score, anticipating each turn of the music and taking aim with his baton at soloists when the turn came for them to shine.


Contact the author: E-mail Superconductor editor Paul Pelkonen.

Opera Review: Bishop Takes Sacrifice

Iphigénie en Tauride at the Met

Paul Groves (left) and Placìdo Domingo, trapped in Iphigénie en Tauride
Photo by Ken Howard © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera

The dreaded "backstage plague" struck the Met on Wednesday night, sidelining mezzo-soprano Susan Graham for that evening's performance of Iphigénie en Tauride. Placìdo Domingo went on as Orest, although he too was suffering from a cold.

The story of Iphigénie picks up where Elektra leaves off. Orestes is hounded by the Furies, running for his life in the company of his friend Pylade. He winds up in Tauride (modern-day Scythia) where he is scheduled to be sacrificed by the high priestess of Diana. What he doesn't know is that this is his sister, Iphigénie.

The Metropolitan Opera makes a policy of hiring cover singers to take over a role at the last minute in the event of illness. On Wednesday evening, it was Elizabeth Bishop in the title role. Ms. Bishop, a winner at the 1993 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, made a strong impression as the Greek princess-turned-priestess in Gluck's drama.

Like Ms. Graham, she is an American singer, with a good command of French and a strong onstage presence. However, she was at her best in the lower reaches of the role, as her voice tended to compress and develop a vibrato whenever she reached for her higher range. She was well matched with the ailing Mr. Domingo as Orestes. The 70-year-old super-tenor managed some fine, heroic singing despite his illness. There was nothing wrong with his acting.


With one star down and another suffering, that left tenor Paul Groves to carry the evening as Orestes' best friend, Pylade. Mr. Groves has a fine heroic instrument and an idiomatic command of French. He took the lead in the third act, singing his ensemble with the other two leads as Orestes and Pylade each attempt to be first on the altar under Iphigénie's knife.

The second half of the show had more momentum than the first, with a driven dynamic intensity as the cast settled into their roles. Patrick Summers led a crystal-clear performance in the pit, allowing the audience to hear the radical, almost revolutionary nature of Gluck's score, which paved the way for every opera that followed in the next 250 years.

Stephen Wadsworth's production remains an imaginative exercise in grimness that combines elements of Indiana Jones and Saw--imagining Diana's temple and its bloody altar as a chamber of horrors. That said, the imaginative use of actual torches on the stage, carefully choreographed ritual dances and (unaccountably) a ballet that takes place behind a big, solid wall (thus, invisible to the audience) makes this one of the more innovative productions of the Peter Gelb era.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Iphigénie en Tauride

Susan Graham and Placìdo Domingo in Stephen Wadsworth's production of Iphegénie en Tauride.
Photo by Ken Howard. © 2008 The Metropolitan Opera

One of the unexpected trends at the Peter Gelb Met has been a renewed interest in the operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck, the masterful German composer who standardized the forms of French opera in the 18th century.


Gluck's work stands at the beginning of the Classical period, when the flourishes of baroque opera were rejected in favor of a strict reliance on musical forms and the fusion of words and music to make a dramatic whole. The classical ideas of Gluck would influence many composers that followed: from Mozart, to Berlioz to Richard Wagner.

Iphigénie is one of the composer's most sophisticated, powerful creations, a tragédie-lyrique that crackles with nervous tension as it veers toward a (potentially) bloody climax. Susan Graham sings the title role--the daughter of the Greek king Agamemnon who is transported by the Gods to the land of Tauris (now the Crimea.) There, she is drafted into the priesthood, and ordered to sacrifice anyone who comes ashore.

The next victim? Her own brother, Orestes.


Oh, and Orestes is played by 70-year old super-tenor Placìdo Domingo, which alone makes this revival worth seeing.

Recordings Overview:

This opera has been surprisingly well-served on disc.

Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala cond. Riccardo Muti (Sony)
Iphigénie: Carol Vaness
Orest: Thomas Allen
Pylade: Gosta Winbergh
This just-reissued set features the control-freak conducting of Riccardo Muti, leading his La Scala forces in a large-scale approach to Gluck's tragedy. Recently reissued as part of the Sony Opera House series.

Boston Baroque cond. Martin Pearlman (Telarc)
Iphegénie: Christine Goerke
Orest: Rodney Gilfry
Pylade: Vinson Cole
This was the first recording of this opera on "period" instruments. This is a stellar cast, with Goerke and Gilfry veterans of John Eliot Gardiner's excellent Mozart opera recordings.

Les Musiciens de Louvre cond. Marc Minkowski (DG Archiv)
Iphegenie: Mireille Delunsch
Orest: Simon Keenlyside
Pylade: Yan Beuron
Period instrument precision and authentic French stylings are the order of the day in this impressive installment in Marc Minkowski's survey of Gluck operas. Minkowski takes a go-for-the-throat approach that is entirely suited to this intense drama.

Iphegénie en Tauride opens on Feb. 12.

Opera Review: Weekend at Bérénice

The only extant photograph of composer Albéric Magnard.

On Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall, the American Symphony Orchestra presented the U.S. premiere of Bérénice, the final opera by nearly forgotten French Romantic composer Albéric Magnard. The concert performance was conducted by ASO director Leon Botstein.

Magnard was part of the post-Wagnerian movement in early 20th century France. He wrote in a sweeping, chromatic idiom and used a system of carefully developed leitmotifs. Like his countryman Ernest Chausson, Magnard's music is of the hothouse variety, a feverish brand of late Romanticism that sweeps over the listener with lush strings and noble brass. Bérénice, a re-working of a play by Racine is his third opera. Magnard was killed in 1914, defending his country home from invading German troops in the early days of World War One.


Bérénice (Michaela Martens) is the Queen of Judea. Her country is sacked by Titus (Brian Mulligan) the heir to the Roman Empire and son of the Emperor Vespasian. The story tells of the collapse of their love affair, caused by Titus' elevation to the position of Emperor. Eventually, she ditches him and Rome, and cuts off her hair in a self-sacrificing gesture as her ship sails back to Judea.

Unusually, this opera has no major parts for tenors or sopranos. Michaela Martens made a strong impression as Bérénice, despite being onstage for three hours and having to do battle with Magnard's weighty orchestration. The mezzo made an admirable effort, delivering a fine dramatic performance and conserving her energies for the peroration that ends the opera. As Titus, Brian Mulligan sang with a warm, powerful baritone in idiomatic French. The Emperor is a difficult role with a high tessitura, and the singer was clearly flagging in the final duet.

As Mucien, the Emperor's retainer, bass Gregory Reinhart showed a powerful, stentorian instrument, dark and sturdy.  Mezzo Margaret Lattimore reached down to the depths of her instrument for the role of Lia, Bérénice's lady-in-waiting. The Collegiate Chorale contributed strong choral support, but one wishes that Magnard had written more for his grand vision than a few short, supporting choruses.

It is a pity that these four fine performances were heard in an opera that is dramatically inert. Bérénice is a kind of Tristan in reverse, with the lovers engaged and passionate at the beginning. As the work develops, the Emperor and his would-be bride are driven apart by politics and their own choices. Unusually for a tragic opera, Bérénice and Titus survive the evening--a possible factor in the work's lack of popularity.

What really sinks Bérénice is Magnard's libretto. (He's no Wagner.) Crudely written, unintentionally hilarious dialogue ("Your logic is as sharp as a broadsword") contributes to leaden pacing, with each act culminating in a lengthy duet. Very little happens in three hours. Leon Botstein did his best with the American Symphony Orchestra forces. That said, the enterprising maestro might want to admit an unwelcome truth: some operas deserve their obscurity.

Concert Review: "Young Gun" Nézet-Séguin Takes Alice Tully Hall

Yannick Nézet-Séguin in action.

On Monday night, a free concert by the Juilliard Orchestra gave New Yorkers a chance to hear Yannick Nézet-Séguin, taking a break from his duties leading Don Carlo at the Met. The 35-year-old French-Canadian maestro, who is scheduled to take over the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2011 showed his conducting chops with a bold program of 20th century music.


First up was the Third Piano Concerto by Serge Prokofiev. Alan Woo played the solo part, a second-year Juilliard student whose lanky build and long fingers recalled another Russian composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff. Like Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev was a virtuoso performer as well as a composer. The "Prokofiev Three" is not a long work, but it requires nerves of steel and fingers to match. Mr. Woo displayed both.

In addition to noble themes and slow, elegaic melodies, there are passages in the first and third movements when the soloist has to play with both hands in the same octave, one on the white keys and the other trilling on the black. Mr. Woo met these individual challenges with assured technical skill. Mr. Nézet-Séguin conducted the large student orchestra with gusto, connecting with the soloist and driving the orchestra forward through the three movements.

The second half of the program featured the original version of Maurice Ravel's ballet score Daphnis et Chloë.. Written in 1910, the ballet was later adapted into a pair of orchestral suites, which are popular concert item. But it is rare to hear the work as Ravel originally intended it, complete with a wordless, melismatic mixed chorus that adds the texture of human voices to the already enormous orchestra.

Commanding the Dessoff Choirs along with the expanded Juilliard Orchestra, Mr. Nézet-Séguin led an exciting performance of the work, maintaining Ravel's narrative drive despite the absence of dancers from the stage. The student orchestra responded well to his direction, producing ferocious rhythms for the work's central "Barbarian Dance" and dreamy textures for the romance of the work's titular characters.

Exceptional performances from the principal horn, English horn and alto flute made this Daphnis an immersive, thrilling experience. The tricky passage at the start of Part III, where the strings enter in a 10-part ensemble while removing their mutes is just one example of the precise nature of Ravel's vision. Mr. Nézet-Séguin brought the final pages of the work home with a mighty climax, a thunderous wall of sound that belies the impression that impressionistic music always means "quiet."

Essential Works: Five great pieces by Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz: Composer, conductor, critic.

Probing the complex sonic world of Berlioz.

As a composer, Hector Berlioz was a maverick in 19th century Paris. Although his career had its share of successes, his unorthodox compositional style and acerbic critical writing earned him plenty of enmity in the cutthroat world of French music.

Berlioz' music was championed by Franz Liszt and rediscovered after his death. Today, his orchestral works, songs and operas have survived, even as many of the popular composers of his day have faded into obscurity.

Here's a guide to the best of Berlioz.

Symphonie-fantastique
Berlioz wrote this work based on his obsession with Harriet Smithson, an English actress whom he saw in a performance of Hamlet. The symphony, subtitled 'Episodes in the life of an Artist," chronicles a twisted version of his obsession with Ms. Smithson over five movements of increasing darkness. It climaxes with the phantasmagorical 'Dream of a Witches' Sabbath' where his love interest is cast as the blood-spattered Whore of Babylon. Whew!

Requiem (Grande Messe de Morts)
Orchestral and choral overload are the order of the day in this gigantic death mass. Berlioz deploys enormous orchestreal forces. The most notable moment is the Tuba Mirum, where the heavenly trumpets are played by four separate brass choirs, each occupying a corner of the hall. Guaranteed to wake the dead.

Romeo et Juliette
This is an elaborate hybrid, a symphony that re-tells the story of Shakespeare's play with the soloists against a rich orchestral background. Berlioz also set 'Much Ado About nothing as the opera Beatrice et Benedict.

Le Damnation de Faust
This 'symphonic drama' sets the Faust legend against an amazing landscape of chorus and orchestra. From the stirring Hungarian March to the love-music between Faust and Marguerite, this is one if Berlioz' most Romantic scores. The actual Damnation Scene, a ride into Hell when Faust is delivered into the hands of a demonic chorus singing in gibberish, is a theatrical tour de force.

Les Troyens
Berlioz had great ambitions with this five-act opera which retells the story of the fall of Troy and the subsequent wanderings of Aeneas and his people en route to the eventual founding of Rome. The opera was too ambitious for Parisian impresarios, who split the opera in two and then refused to perform the first half. Today, the whole five act work is regarded as a masterpiece of orchestration and story-telling.

CD Review: The Trials of Hoffman

Jacques Offenbach

Last summer, the Metropolitan Opera sent a letter to its subscribers, announcing that the company had cancelled its planned (and long overdue) revival of Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman in favor of yet another run of the 1996 Franco Zeffirelli production of Carmen. With Hoffman (temporarily) banished from the opera house here in New York, it's good news that EMI Classics decided to reissue their 1988 Belgian recording of the opera, conducted by Sylvain Cambreling.

Fans of Hoffman know that Jacques Offenbach died four months before its premiere, living long enough to complete the piano score for the entire opera and orchestrate the prelude and the first act. However, multiple revisions, additions and subtractions by half-a-dozen well-meaning editors have left opera houses with difficult decisions to make. Here's a few of the issues facing would-be producers of Hoffman:

• Do you leave the opening Prelude with the Muse and have the Muse and Nicklausse sung by the same mezzo-soprano?
  
  
• The four Evil Geniuses (Coppelius, Dappertutto, Dr. Mirakle and Lindorf) are usually played by one bass-baritone. Do you have one singer quadruple in all four female leads (as Offenbach intended), or do you split the role?
  
  
• Which order of the acts do you use? I-II-III (Olympia-Antonia-Giulietta) as the composer intended) or I-III-II (Olympia-Giulietta-Antonia) which puts the big death scene at the end?
  
  
• Which aria for Dapertutto: the authentic "Tourne, tourne miroir" or the crowd-pleasing "Scintille, diamante?"
  
  
• Does Giulietta die in Act III as the composer originally intended?

The Cambreling recording, made in Brussels, attempts to give the listener the best of all possible worlds. The opera is played at a slow, often stately tempo with painstaking attention to the text. Neil Shicoff gives the recorded performance of his career as Hoffman, his signature role. Jose Van Dam gives four exceptional performances as the Evil Geniuses. Both Dappertutto arias are included, with "Scintille, diamante" as an appendix.

Luciana Serra is a decidedly Italian Olympia, soaring through the doll's difficult music. As the doomed Antonia, Rosalind Plowright is in remarkable voice before her decline.. Giulietta is the indomitable Jessye Norman. (She survives in this version.) Ann Murray doubles as Nicklausse and the Muse. And character tenor Robert Tear tackles four roles also, playing Andrès, Cochenille, Frantz, and Pitichinaccio.