Symphonie fantastique (180g / limitierte Auflage) [LP]

Sir Colin Davis’s rousing 1974 interpretation of the “Symphonie fantastique” with the Concertgebouw Orchestra has remained the top choice for most critics ever since its initial release. In a sense, the “Symphonie fantastique” was just as revolutionary a work as Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du Printemps,” and the precise elements that make it so unique are clearly evident in this performance.

Davis’s affinity for Berlioz is now legendary. His understanding of Berlioz’s unique compositional style is impressively demonstrated in this Concertgebouw recording. All the distinctive qualities of Berlioz’s orchestration are brought to life without compromise through Davis’s outstanding musicality. He is a true champion of the French composer’s work, and this outstanding recording rightly deserves the high praise it has received over the years.

For this release, Rainer Maillard used the original four-channel quadraphonic master tape at the Emil Berliner Studios to create a new stereo mix that was sent directly to the cutting head. This preserves the entire signal path as purely analog. The Philips sound engineers of the 1970s would also have mixed the four front and rear channels before cutting, but that downmix would have resulted in a two-track stereo copy for mastering, whereas here the lacquer disc is cut directly from a “live” mix of the four quad channels in stereo.

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