Berlioz - Beatrice and Benedict
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Label: Brilliant Classics - Opera Collection
Cat No: 93923
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 2
Genre: Opera
Release Date: 23rd March 2009
Contents
Artists
Dietrich Fischer-DieskauYvonne Minton
Placido Domingo
Ileana Cotrubas
Orchestre de Paris
Conductor
Daniel BarenboimWorks
Beatrice et Benedict, op.27Artists
Dietrich Fischer-DieskauYvonne Minton
Placido Domingo
Ileana Cotrubas
Orchestre de Paris
Conductor
Daniel BarenboimAbout
One of a series called the 'Opera Collection' – an extensive new collection of operas, ranging from baroque to the twentieth century, many of which are award winners.
Béatrice et Bénédict was borne of Berlioz’s lifelong fascination with Shakespeare. A performance by the Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet reportedly inspired him to commence work on his own Roméo et Juliette, a large-scale dramatic symphony. He had fallen headlong in love with her after seeing her as Ophelia in 1827 and later wrote, ‘I came out of Hamlet shaken to the core'. He also contemplated setting Antony and Cleopatra to music, but it was not until many years later (1860) that he settled on Shakespeare’s 'Much Ado about Nothing'.
Although he had considered the idea of an opera on this play as early as 1833, it turned out to be his final opera. Berlioz produced his own libretto – a much revised version of the story, with several of the original characters absent. It nonetheless remains faithful to Shakespeare’s play.
Berlioz claimed he wrote this opera to relax after the stress of completing the vast Les Troyens – and said it was ‘a caprice written with the point of a needle’. Indeed, it is scored lightly, and has a warm and gentle wit to it, ideally suited to the subject.
‘Minton’s beautiful voice and her warm understanding of Berlioz’s style are again evident … Daniel Barenboim conducts with enthusiasm.’ - Gramophone
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