This masterful performance of the Symphonie fantastique comes from Colin Davis' pioneering Berlioz cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra, originally taped for Philips and now resurfacing on Universal. The cycle contained many inspirational recordings that did much to bring Berlioz's output, especially its more neglected areas, to international attention, and in large measure these indomitably committed interpretations never have been eclipsed by Davis' subsequent remakes.

He secures an exceptionally fine account of the Symphonie in which the complex sub-plots of this "Episode in the Life of an Artist" emerge with arresting realism and clarity. From the "ideé fixe", the melodic thread that permeates and unifies the entire work, Davis and the London Symphony develop the various instrumental threads with tremendous flexibility and subtlety. Hence, its successive transformations, especially the grotesque mockery of the closing "Scene of a Witches' Sabbath", seem to evolve naturally. No less remarkable is this bracingly virtuosic reading of the overture Le Carnaval romain, in Davis' hands a riotous and disjunctive essay imbued with its own thrilling magnetism. This disc deserves a place in every collection, particularly now that it may be had at budget price.

--Michael Jameson