Artistic Quality 10      Sound Quality 10

“… There are several fine performances of this work on CD, and this one ranks among the best. Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony seem to revel in the refined, translucent scoring, and when all is said and done this performance leaves you with a sense of sweet mystery that is as powerful as bombast and breast beating.”

“ … Sasha Cooke and Roderick Williams as Mary and Joseph respectively, sing with parental warmth and authority that also serves to channel any devotional tendency towards the infant saviour the work might inspire in its audience, but certainly any such piety is not cloying or sentimental. The slightly pinched, nasal quality of Andrew Staples's Narrator, and the robust singing of Shane Lowrencev as Polydorus, ground the work within a dimension of greater dramatic immediacy in any case. In a work with several purely orchestral interludes, however, it is the music itself, so much as any particular incident in the narrative, which stands out, with both orchestra and chorus caressing their phrases thoughtfully and subtly, as sparing use of vibrato is made, and strings and woodwinds are beautifully integrated. The famous ‘Shepherds’ Farewell’ is sung with hushed reverence, and the concluding chorus melts away tantalisingly into an atmosphere of mystical wonder… The sound quality is excellent.” *****

“…This new Chandos recording of L’Enfance du Christ is very successful. There isn‘t a weak link in the performance and, indeed, it has many strengths… This release is a fine contribution to the Berlioz 150th anniversary.”

“This magnificent release constitutes the finest and most consistently outstanding recording of Berlioz’s great choral masterpiece ever issued… The choral singing is superb throughout, and the orchestral playing is invariably of a high international standard. Sir Andrew’s interpretation consistently goes to the heart of the work, and the presentation by Chandos is immaculate.” *****

“…He [Davis] is alive to the orchestral colours, his chorus is good, and Andrew Staples is an eloquent Narrator, Sasha Cooke a lovely Marie, Roderick Williams a fine Joseph and Matthew Brook a powerful Herod.”

“The Chandos surround sound recording does full justice to the composer’s limpid and affecting choral and orchestral writing, and this new disc becomes – at a stroke — the definitive reading of Berlioz’s winning piece. Sir Andrew Davis conducts the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and an outstanding team of soloists.”

“… full, richly textured recording. Sasha Cooke, as Mary, is the soloists’ shining light.” ***

“… The Melbourne Symphony … sound very warm and plush … their playing is beautifully articulated and detailed. The set’s principal strength, however, lies in the choral singing, which is superb throughout in its clarity, balance and dynamic control: ‘L’adieu des bergers’ sounds ravishing; the careful shading of the unaccompanied closing chorus takes your breath away …”