In the hands of Robin Ticciati and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique receives a near-period style reading that is full of special surprises, not least that a modern instrumental ensemble can sound quite close to an early Romantic orchestra. Listeners familiar with historically informed performance practices will immediately recognize the sound of strings played senza vibrato , and the raw timbres of the woodwinds and brass offer a convincing subtitute for wind instruments of the early ...
Read More
In the hands of Robin Ticciati and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique receives a near-period style reading that is full of special surprises, not least that a modern instrumental ensemble can sound quite close to an early Romantic orchestra. Listeners familiar with historically informed performance practices will immediately recognize the sound of strings played senza vibrato , and the raw timbres of the woodwinds and brass offer a convincing subtitute for wind instruments of the early 19th century. But Ticciati's spontaneous interpretation makes the Symphonie fantastique sound even more like a product of a fevered Romantic imagination, namely Berlioz's: the push and pull of rubato, the explosive attacks, and the unexpected sonorities in odd places that Ticciati draws from the orchestra all conspire to make this a genuinely startling, risk-taking, and fun performance. There are many excellent recordings that can be placed along the spectrum from conventional to...
Read Less
