Recorded in 2010 during Riccardo Muti’s first subscription concerts as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s tenth music director, this new double-CD release pairs Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique with its sequel, Lélio, ou le retour de la vie (Lélio, or The Return to Life). Berlioz intended Symphonie fantastique to be followed by Lélio in concert, as the artist returns to life to comment anew on music and art. Maestro Muti and the CSO are joined in Lélio by acclaimed actor Gérard Depardieu as the narrator, tenor Mario Zeffiri, bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen, and the Chicago Symphony Chorus. “… to hear this pairing of works as Berlioz intended was fascinating.” (New York Times) “[T]he vivid, evocative and beautifully detailed performance the maestro elicited from his platoons of performers— including narrator, soloists and full Chorus, in magnificent voice—drew a thunderous ovation from the packed auditorium.” (Chicago Tribune)
