Conducts Berlioz

The modernist Boulez took in 1967 the musical scene by surprise by turning to that arch-Romantic Hector Berlioz, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in the Symphonie fantastique and Lélio, the little-known work he intended as its sequel. The result was every bit as stimulating as one might have expected from this great musical provocateur. Yvonne Minton is splendid in La Mort de Cléopâtre, flinging out regal defiance, and Jean-Louis Barrault is the perfect restless narrator for the work Berlioz wrote to continue the dream of the Fantastique, the concert autobiography Lélio." The new 4-CD reissue also includes Yvonne Minton's "dramatically incisive ... passionate response [to Les Nuits d'été, showing her at her most movingly eloquent.