Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ album cover

Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ

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Described as a ‘sacred trilogy’, Berlioz’s oratorio L’enfance du Christ began as a short piece called Shepherds’ Farewell. It tells the story of the birth of Jesus and the journey of the Holy Family as they escape Bethlehem and head across Egypt to the city of Saïs. Unlike many of the composer’s more flamboyant works, it is an exquisite and gentle composition scored for relatively small forces.

Composer Berlioz
Conductor Sir Colin Davis, Nigel Short
Performers London Symphony Orchestra, Tenebrae Choir
Soloists Yann Beuron, Karen Cargill, William Dazeley, Matthew Rose, Peter Rose

Disc 1
L'enfance du Christ - Part I, Le Songe d'Hérode
1. Prologue - Dans la Crèche, en Ce Temps
2. Scene 1 - Marche Nocturne
3. Scenes 2 & 3 - Toujours Ce Rêve!
4. Scene 4 - Les Sages de Judée
5. Scene 4 - Les Devins Font Des Évolutions
6. Scene 4 - la Voix Dit Vrai, Seigneur
7. Scene 5 - O Mon Cher Fils
8. Scene 6 - Joseph! Marie!

Disc 2
L'enfance du Christ - Part II, La Fuite en Égypte
1. Ouverture
2. L'adieu Des Bergers a la Sainte Famille (The Shepherds' Farewell)
3. Le Repos de la Sainte Famille (The Holy Family At Rest)

L'enfance du Christ - Part III, L'arrivée À Saïs
4. Depuis Trois Jours
5. Scene 1 - Dans Cette Ville Immense
6. Scene 2 - Entrez, Pauves Hébreux
7. Scene 2 - Trio for Two Flutes and Harp
8. Scene 2 - Vous Pleurez, Jeune Mère
9. Epilogue - Ce Fut Ainsi Que Par un Infidèle
10. O Mon Âme

Release date 2007
LSO0606 | 0822231160625

Digital booklet in English / Notes de programme en français / Einführungstexte auf Deutsch. Includes complete libretto with English translation. Sung in French.

Producer James Mallinson
Engineers Classic Sound Ltd
Recorded December 2006 in the Barbican Hall, London

FLAC - 24bit 96kHz - Compatible with Windows and Android devices
MP3 - 320kbps - Universal compatibility

Available on streaming services

Reviews

If ever a conductor lived the works of a composer, it’s Davis with Berlioz. The London Symphony Orchestra play with delicacy, the Tenebrae Choir are immaculate, and there’s an impeccable set of soloists.

- The Independent’s Classical CD of the Week

Under Davis’s loving direction, the spirit is wonderfully right, and all the soloists, the fine Tenebrae Choir and the hypersensitive LSO combine in an interpretation of extraordinary tenderness.

- Sunday Times

Life-enhancing.

- The Times