Warner’s Berlioz: Vocal and Choral Works

Engraving of Hector Berlioz (from the New York Public Library Archives, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

The second category in the organization of Berlioz: The Complete Works, the 27-CD boxed set released by Warner Classics, is that of secular vocal and choral compositions. For the most part this amounts to “art song” set for one or more solo vocalists or for choral resources. Unless I am mistaken, there were no a cappella offerings in this category. The category also includes the Opus 24 La Damnation de Faust, which Berlioz himself described as a “Légende dramatique” (dramatic legend). Berlioz’ classification has not prevented opera companies from staging this piece. (I have enjoyed a “bicoastal experience” of staged productions given by both the Metropolitan Opera and the San Francisco Opera.) However, Warner decided not to treat this as a “stage work.”

However, with the possible exception of Opus 24, this is likely to be a major journey of discovery for most listeners. Thanks to the imaginative programming of the San Francisco Symphony, I have been exposed to at least a few of those unfamiliar offerings. Nevertheless, when I encountered them on these recordings, the “ring of familiarity” was, at best, a dim one, often having more to do with the nature of the text than with the music itself. Far more interesting is recognizing that some of the earliest offerings explore thematic material that will subsequently resurface (usually with more refinement) in more familiar settings. One gets the impression that Berlioz never had any trouble letting themes flow from the tip of his pen, but finding the right setting for those themes did not always come easily.

One thing that I enjoyed about several of the CDs in this collection was greater satisfaction from personal favorites when it comes to performers. Readers may recall that I called out the absence of my favorite conductors in the instrumental works category. In this vocal section two conductors (from two different generations) stood out for me, John Barbirolli and Kent Nagano. Barbirolli is there with mezzo Janet Baker and the New Philharmonia Orchestra for what may still be the definitive account of the Opus 7 Les Nuits d’été (the summer nights).

Nagano, on the other hand, is of the current generation; but I have long appreciated the imaginative approaches he takes to his repertoire selections. He is conducting the resources of the Opéra National de Lyon in the recording of Opus 24, providing yet another data point suggesting that this should be treated as a stage work. He is also working with a wonderful set of vocal soloists, tenor Thomas Moser as Faust, mezzo Susan Graham as Marguerite, and baritone José van Dam as Mephistophélès. Finally, there is an “all-star” account of the seldom (if ever) performed duet “Le Trébuchet” with pianist Gerald Moore accompanying soprano Victoria de los Angeles and baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Medieval warfare never sounded so good!