Anima Eterna; Jos van Immerseel - Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique & Le Carnival Romain on CD

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International products have separate terms, are sold from abroad and may differ from local products, including fit, age ratings, and language of product, labeling or instructions. Review Despite the efforts of conductors such as Roger Norrington and John Eliot Gardiner from the 1980's onwards, period instrument performances of Berlioz in general and the Symphonie Fantastique in particular are relatively rare on disc; currently, the only rivals to Jos van Immerseel's new version with his Bruges-based orchestra seem to be those by Gardiner and Norrington themselves. Immerseel's approach, his choice of tempi and phrasing, are relatively conservative the account of the exuberant Roman Carnival overture is positively staid but the raw edge that the period instruments bring to Berlioz's soundworld is often viscerally exciting, with a pair of ophicleides adding a feral growl to the brass bass lines. Immerseel produces a real surprise in the finale of the symphony, though, when he uses a pair of early 19th-century pianos to simulate the bell sounds Berlioz prescribes for the climax of the Witches' Sabbath. Immerseel's reasons as presented in the sleeve notes are plausible enough, though whether the results are convincing is likely to be down to personal taste. --The Guardian - Andrew Clements 28/01/2010 Though period-instrument recordings of the Fantastic are not uncommon, none that I have heard makes Berlioz's linear scoring so startlingly different. This, you feel, is how it would have sounded in the 1830's (Erard harps and pianos included). The woodwind and horns, in particular, leap out, but it is the sheer raw clarity of every line and colour in these Flemish players performance, and its effect on the rhythms, that strikes you, especially in their revelatory account of the opening movement. Van Immerseel is, otherwise, quite a sober interpreter, resisting the temptation that besets many conductors to whip up the animatos (and setting a rather slow tempo in the Roman Carnival), but only the Scène aux champs seems to me inauthentically heavy-handed. The finale is electric. --The Sunday Times - David Cairns 24/01/2010 Best known for a startling reimagining of Ravel's Bolero, Jos van Immerseel's provocative period-instruments orchestra turns to Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. The forces are small, the sound translucent in Rêveries/ Passions and Un Bal, brittle and dusty in the Marche au Supplice. Two Erard pianos replace the bells in Songe d'une Nuit du Sabbat, an odd, alluring sound. Scène aux Champs is particularly poetic, with gorgeous woodwind, though Van Immerseel's tempi are often rather cautious. --The Independent - Anna Picard 24/01/2010