Berlioz, L'enfance Du,.. [Import]

L'Enfance du Christ, while not nearly as dramatic as Berlioz's other works that could be said to fall into the genres of oratorio or cantata, is nonetheless "unquestionably Berlioz"; no one familiar with his style would confuse the work for that of another composer. An oratorio setting of the Nativity and cast in three parts (a "Sacred Trilogy" as described by him), it is his gentlest extended work by far, and it provides an ever-fresh alternative to the usual holiday music offered at this time of year.

Notwithstanding the work's "kinder, gentler" aspects, L'Enfance du Christ has all of the stylistic characteristics that serve to set aside Berlioz from his contemporaries (and successors): often-surprising melodic and harmonic shifts, quicksilver-fleet rhythmic figures, and a clarity of detail that set him up as the master orchestrator that he was. Faithfully capturing this "essence of Berlioz" - particularly the delicacy and purity of the work - then becomes a matter of a conductor (and his forces) being imbued with "the Berlioz gene" for lack of a better expression.

My familiarity with L'Enfance du Christ goes back some four decades, to the 1961 L'Oiseau-Lyre LP boxed set of Colin Davis (many, many years before he was knighted), with an all-star cast led by Peter Pears and with splendid notes provided by the Berlioz expert David Cairns. This was once available as a "Decca Double" CD transfer, but is seemingly no longer available; it is a classic. And, while Davis has since rerecorded the work (for Philips), it is John Eliot Gardiner's approach to the work - in this recording under review - that presently suits me best.

While this 1988 performance predates Gardiner's establishment of the "authentic instruments" Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique that he was later to use for his successful series of Berlioz recordings on the Philips label, his leading of the Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon has many of his now-well-known stylistic touches to the music of Berlioz: generally brisk, lithe tempi with a clear rendering of Berlioz's unique rhythmic figurations, and a wealth of clarity of detail, even delicacy, that is totally fitting to the Berlioz style.

Gardiner further has the benefit of splendid soloists for the main roles in the oratorio: Anne Sofie von Otter (seemingly "the all-purpose mezzo of our time") as Mary, Gilles Cachemaille as Joseph, Jose van Dam as Herod, and Anthony Rolfe-Johnson as The Narrator. All of these soloists, save perhaps von Otter, are well-known Berlioz specialists; von Otter is simply in a class by herself in her versatility, here providing a Mary of purity and simplicity. The Monteverdi Choir (a group that Gardiner WAS to use time and again for his later Philips recordings of Berlioz works) provides the perfect choral backdrop to the soloists and orchestra.

Here, then, is what is for me the best currently-available recording of L'Enfance du Christ, one that truly captures every aspect of both the work (and its gentleness and delicacy) and the spirit and style of the idiosyncratic and unique genius who was Berlioz. Never mind that Berlioz couldn't quite come to terms with his religion, "the Catholic and Apostolic Church of Rome..." of his upbringing, when an adult; his tribute to the Nativity is as heartfelt as any.

I am thankful (and I hope that others sympathetic to my comments will be as well) that this recording, originally on the full-price Erato label, has been rereleased as an inexpensive Warner (Elektra/Asylum/Teldec/Erato) "Ultima" twofer in attractive packaging (including a "slimline" jewel box). The sound is just fine, despite the recording venue being the Church of Sainte-Madeleine, Pérouges (a venue where the opportunity for overreverberant acoustics can always raise its head, but doesn't here). I can only find fault with the "foldout" containing the overly brief notes about L'Enfance du Christ (and none at all regarding Gardiner's fresh approach to the work). But this is a minor point indeed.

Bon anniversaire, M. Berlioz!