Michael Spyres, Timothy Ridout, Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg, John Nelson – Berlioz: Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7 – Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (2022) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Michael Spyres, Timothy Ridout, Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg, John Nelson – Berlioz: Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7 – Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:38 minutes | 1,22 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

Internationally acclaimed “baritenor” Michael Spyres commands parts for high tenor as well as baritone with the same fulminance and nonchalance – in both registers he has “the operatic world at his feet,” Gramophone Magazine raved. For Berlioz’s collection of art songs Les Nuits d’été, the exceptional singer now makes use of his entire range and presents himself for the first time also in the bass; this makes the recording a unique one worldwide. The melancholy love lament appears on the album Berlioz: Les Nuits d’été & Harold en Italie, recorded by the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg under the direction of John Nelson.

The eighty-year-old American conductor John Nelson is considered one of the most important interpreters of Berlioz’s œuvre. With this new album, he adds two more works to his award-winning Berlioz cycle: in addition to Les Nuits d’été (in the orchestral version from 1856), the symphony for viola Harold en Italie. Berlioz had written it on commission from the devil’s violinist Paganini. Unlike what the latter had ordered, however, Berlioz did not write a virtuoso showpiece; he declared the viola to be a “melancholy dreamer in the sense of Byron’s poetry.” The romantic indulgence is interpreted by “the uncannily talented Timothy Ridout, recently voted among the BBC’s New Generation Artists”This release is part of a Berlioz series by conductor John Nelson and the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg, but it is the soloists who shine here. Tenor Michael Spyres, who is really hitting his stride, has a voice pleasantly suited to French music, rounded and subtle, but there is more; Berlioz suggested that several singers perform the orchestral song cycle Les nuits d’été, Op. 7, but Spyres takes all the songs himself. Moreover, he does them in the original keys, which is rarer still. This calls for a singer with exceptional control of dynamic extremes in different parts of his range, and Spyres is exceptionally flexible in this regard. There is a confidence and nonchalance to this performance that grows on the listener as the performance proceeds, even as the sound engineering puts Spyres too far front and center to the detriment of the orchestra’s contributions. This isn’t so pronounced in the anti-concerto Harold en Italie, Op. 16, and here again, there is a standout soloist; Timothy Ridout offers a rich sound and a real narrative quality that seems to evoke the score’s source in Lord Byron’s long poem. This exceptionally satisfying Berlioz album hit best-seller charts in late 2022. – James Manheim

Tracklist:

1-01. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7: No. 1, Villanelle (02:36)
1-02. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7: No. 2, Le spectre de la rose (06:51)
1-03. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7: No. 3, Sur les lagunes (07:03)
1-04. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7: No. 4, Absence (05:18)
1-05. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7: No. 5, Au cimetière (05:51)
1-06. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Les Nuits d’été, Op. 7: No. 6, L’île inconnue (03:42)
1-07. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Harold en Italie, Op. 16: I. Harold aux montagnes. Scènes de mélancolie, de bonheur et de joie (15:45)
1-08. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Harold en Italie, Op. 16: II. Marche des pèlerins chantant la prière du soir (07:04)
1-09. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Harold en Italie, Op. 16: III. Sérénade d’un montagnard des Abruzzes à sa maîtresse (06:07)
1-10. Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg – Harold en Italie, Op. 16: IV. Orgie de brigands. Souvenirs des scènes précédentes (12:17)

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