Hector Berlioz – Symphonie fantastique CD

Hector Berlioz – Symphonie fantastique

Klaus Mäkelä's 2025 album with the Orchestre de Paris is the third album in the collaboration between the Finnish star conductor and the orchestra and contains two of the most famous French works: Berlioz' "Symphonie fantastique" and Ravel's "La Valse". 

This is music that belongs to the Orchestre de Paris like no other: Mäkelä's recordings follow famous predecessors such as Charles Munch, Herbert von Karajan and Daniel Barenboim. The centerpiece of the album is the Symphonie fantastique, recorded live at the Philharmonie de Paris in December 2024. "Berlioz's masterpiece has a very special significance for the Orchestre de Paris," says Klaus Mäkelä. "It was one of the works that Charles Munch performed and recorded in 1967 as the orchestra's first music director, and it has remained a centerpiece of the repertoire ever since." The Guardian described the performance of the work at the Royal Albert Hall last year as 'electrifying', adding: 'It just clicked: Mäkelä had us all hanging on every note within seconds, and the orchestra played like a team of all-stars Bachtrack described the performance as 'five movements of extravagance and subtlety', and The Arts Desk called the finale 'the culmination of something that is at last truly extraordinary'.

Tracklist:
1. Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: I. Rêveries - Passions
2. Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: II. Un bal. Valse
3. Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: III. Scène aux champs
4. Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: IV. Marche au supplice
5. Symphonie fantastique, H. 48: V. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat
6. La valse, M. 72

Label: Decca
Released: 2025