John Nelson conducts Berlioz — With Michael Spyres and Timothy Ridout

France’s Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra is back on medici.tv for an all-Berlioz program in the company of the excellent Michael Spyres and Timothy Ridout! Under the direction of the exceptional John Nelson, a specialist of the French master, the orchestra dazzles us over the course of this concert, broadcast live from Strasbourg’s Palais de la musique et des congrès.

The evening begins lightly with the Overture to the opera Béatrice et Bénédict, then, Spyres bursts onto the stage to delight us with is tenor timbre in Les Nuits d’été, a song cycle made up of six melodies on poems by Théophile Gautier. Finally, violist Ridout and the orchestra end this formidable homage to Berlioz in style with Harold en Italie, a magical work halfway between symphony and concerto, conceived to shine a light on all of the capabilities and subtleties of the instrument… as well as those of the one wielding it!

Photo: John Nelson © Marco Borggreve