Berlioz: Nuits d’étê; Harold en Italie (Strasbourg/Nelson)

Berlioz
Les nuits d’été; Harold en Italie
Michael Spyres (tenor), Timothy Ridout (viola); Strasbourg Philharmonic/John Nelson
Erato 5419719685   72:39 mins

This is special. Two extraordinary masterpieces. Two unusual solo parts that are all the more challenging for eschewing showiness. Two outstanding soloists thoroughly immersed in Berlioz’s music, partnered by an orchestra and conductor with an unsurpassed pedigree in the composer.

This latest instalment of John Nelson’s Berlioz series brings together the pioneering orchestral song cycle Les nuits d’étés and the storytelling viola concerto Harold en Italie. The latter utterly confounded Paganini’s expectations of virtuosic fireworks, but it finds a supreme advocate in Timothy Ridout. Rarely has the principal theme had such ardent, glowing warmth, while the fragmentation of delicate textures at the second movement’s conclusion is utterly compelling. The final ‘Orgie de brigands’ is simply thrilling, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg tautly flitting between its extreme moods.

Berlioz suggested a mixture of voice types for Les nuits d’étés, but he reckoned without the singular talents of Michael Spyres. Plenty of singers tackle the cycle alone, but Spyres is exceptional in keeping to the original keys, as if in continuation of his recent Baritenor album. It is not just his remarkably wide range, but his security of expression with no sense of pushing. ‘Villanelle’ saunters with youthful freshness while ‘Sur les lagunes’ is richly brooding. Spyres spans the gamut of Berlioz’s emotions, from the fervent tenderness of ‘Le Spectre de la rose’, via the desolate, controlled hush at the end of ‘L’Absence’ to the chirpy optimism of ‘L’Île Inconnue’, Nelson’s ensuring beautifully fluid accompaniment throughout.

Christopher Dingle