COMPOSERS: Berlioz
LABELS: Decca Double Decca
WORKS: Béatrice et Bénédict; Irlande
PERFORMER: Josephine Veasey, John Mitchinson, April Cantelo, Helen Watts; St Anthony Singers, LSO/Colin Davis, etc
CATALOGUE NO: 448 113-2 ADD
Colin Davis has the measure of this score in all its capriciousness and restrained beauty. His soloists are not always as idiomatic: Cantelo sings with passion and spirit, but I could not make out a word of what she is singing. Cavils aside, there are many excellent moments, particularly the ravishing duet between Cantelo and Helen Watts that closes Act I and the trio ‘Je vais d’un coeur aimant’. Josephine Veasey – a gloriously full-throated Béatrice – excels throughout. Christopher Wood
Berlioz: Béatrice et Bénédict; Irlande
Colin Davis has the measure of this score in all its capriciousness and restrained beauty. His soloists are not always as idiomatic: Cantelo sings with passion and spirit, but I could not make out a word of what she is singing. Cavils aside, there are many excellent moments, particularly the ravishing duet between Cantelo and Helen Watts that closes Act I and the trio ‘Je vais d’un coeur aimant’. Josephine Veasey – a gloriously full-throated Béatrice – excels throughout. Christopher Wood
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:06 pm