Berlioz - La Damnation de Faust review | Erica Jeal's classical album of the month

The Guardian 100

Spyres/DiDonato/Courjal/Duhamel/Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg/Coro Gulbenkian/Les Petits Chanteurs de Strasbourg/Nelson
(Erato)
Michael Spyres is almost superhumanly good in this live recording of Berlioz’s légende dramatique

The 150th anniversary of Hector Berlioz’s death has brought a slew of strong additions to the composer’s discography, including at least two top-notch recordings of his “légende dramatique” on the Faust story. Simon Rattle’s version with the LSO came out in the spring; now it is joined by this one, which swaggers confidently on to the scene as the follow-up to John Nelson’s 2017 Les Troyens, a recording that won prizes from just about everyone.