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Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
LPO – 0128
Released February 2024
Total playing time: 127:58
Recorded at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on 4 February 2023.
Producer: Andrew Walton, K&A Productions
Engineer: Deborah Spanton, K&A Productions
Executive Producers: Elena Dubinets, David Burke, Graham Wood
Sung in French.
52-page booklet includes full libretto and English translation.
℗ 2023 London Philharmonic Orchestra Ltd
© 2023 London Philharmonic Orchestra Ltd
CD: Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
Available in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Berlioz The Damnation of Faust
Edward Gardner conductor
Karen Cargill Marguerite
John Irvin Faust
Christopher Purves Méphistophélès
Jonathan Lemalu Brander
London Philharmonic Choir
Members of London Symphony Chorus
London Youth Choirs
Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust caused a scandal in 1846 when it was first performed, and with its supernatural story and thumping good melodies, it’s still one of 19th-century music’s most thrilling treats.
In this live concert recording from the Royal Festival Hall, LPO Principal Conductor Edward Gardner is joined by massed choruses and a charismatic all-star cast for an unforgettable performance described by The Guardian as ‘by turns broodingly introspective, beguilingly sensuous and eerily malign, with sinister brass and woodwind flickering like demonic fire.’
- Available in immersive Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos on Apple Music Classical
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Reviews
If I have to go to hell, I’ve decided, I want the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner to come with me.
The Times
Review on live performance
I have rarely heard 'La course à l'abîme/Pandæmonium' sound so terrifying. The 'Chant de la Fête de Pâques', meanwhile, seems more beautiful, and more shattering, than ever [...]
The Times. February 2024
('The Best Albums of 2024 so far')
With his choral and operatic roots, Gardner has a special flair for taming such genre-crossing, massed-choir monsters.
The Arts Desk
Review on live performance
By turns broodingly introspective, beguilingly sensuous and eerily malign, with sinister brass and woodwind flickering like demonic fire.
The Guardian
Review on live performance
Here and throughout, the alternate brilliance and beauty of Berlioz’s writing ensures that the listener is continuously captivated
Classical Music
Download the CD booklet