28
Nov

5* Reviews of John Nelson’s Les Troyens

SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE MAGAZINE Classical Album of the Year
GUARDIAN TOP 10 of 2017
new versions of repertory operas rarely seem to rival let alone supplant the established classic versions, but this Trojans, taken from concert performances by about as a good cast as could be assembled today and conducted by John Nelson, really has done that.
NEW YORK TIMES Best 25 Classical Recordings of 2017
BBC RADIO 3 RECORD REVIEW Disc of the Week
PLANET HUGILL‘s Disc of the Year
John Nelson conducts Berlioz opera in live performances with a substantially Francophone cast and a terrific amount of style

★★★★★ FINANCIAL TIMES He [John Nelson] has a live-wire grip on the score and gets detailed playing from his orchestra

★★★★★ THE TIMES Whether it’s the lower strings thumping out a baleful counterpoint to Cassandra’s warnings, the trilling woodwind scampering through Berlioz’s delicious genre dances, or the heavy brass depicting the flatulent bellows  of the ‘serpents monstrueux’, the Strasbourg Philharmonic sounds wonderfully engaged and idiomatic in a supportively resonant accoustic

★★★★★ GUARDIAN This is now unquestionably the version of Berlioz’s masterpiece to have at home

★★★★★ BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE John Nelson, however, claims to have conducted Les Troyens more often than anyone else, and his experience shows. … Nelson drives the drama with unforced tempos but ample theatrical vitality and grandeur
★★★★★ OPERA NOW & CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE his grasp of the style and control of his forces in this live recording are miraculous
★★★★★ RONDO
★★★★★ THE DAILY TELEGRAPH The conductor John Nelson was clearly born with Berlioz in his genes and his commitment to its enchanting ballet interludes and martial swagger, as well as it impassioned romantic idealism, is absolute.
GRAMOPHONE In short, this is a peach of a recording, with the strongest cast across the board of any Troyens recording setting a thrilling new benchmark for this epic opera

PRESTO CLASSICAL personally this is one of the triumphs of the year – if not the decade

SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE MAGAZINE Nelson‘s organic unfolding of the sensual “African forest” act is wondrously evocative, with superb playing.

BROADWAY WORLD Under John Nelson‘s careful baton.. it was a marvel of style and vocal thrills, with the mounted forces of three choruses and two orchestras making the performance sound monumental.