Pristine continues its centenary salute to the dawn of electrical recording with a landmark release: Felix Weingartner’s pioneering 1925 Symphonie Fantastique. These sessions, wrapped up exactly a century ago, produced what appears to be the first Classical electrical recording ever issued by English Columbia. Usually cast as a cool Beethovenian Classicist, Weingartner reveals a wilder Romantic streak here, shaping Berlioz’s fevered score with a flexibility and fire that might surprise even long-time admirers. The cramped Petty France studio and early-electric limitations are very real, but so is the sheer electricity of the performance.
The Fantastique is joined by the conductor’s only other Berlioz recording, the punchy Trojan March, captured in far better sonics fourteen years later, plus two Liszt tone poems – Les Préludes and the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 – recorded at the close of Weingartner’s long career with no loss of energy or precision. Together they chart not only the arc of a remarkable musician but also the seismic shift brought about by early electrical recordings, which raised orchestral standards worldwide. These new transfers draw on the finest surviving Columbia pressings and bring fresh clarity to performances that helped redefine how the world listened.
We also celebrate the 125th anniversary of Arthur Sullivan with a 15% discount on all his music at Pristine.
