Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique - SCO & Ticciati - The Herald

One of the most important characteristics of this brilliant debut recording from Robin Ticciati and the SCO is its permanence. Though it is not short on immediate impact, it is a searching interpretation that will reveal much with familiarisation. It is an awesome performance. Ticciati doesn't go for the jugular, nor does he wring the neck of Berlioz's wonderful masterpiece. He's a man for detail and, with the SCO in formidable shape, this account of the symphony is detail upon detail, revealing new perspectives at every turn. Ticciati's pacing is supple, his forensic treatment of Berlioz's miraculous palette of dynamics infinitelty subtle, and the SCO's playing of line and texture is sophisticated and breathtaking in the clarity of its articulation. But Ticciati gives it its head, too, as you can hear in the final giddiness of The Ball, the eruption in the slow movement, the menace of the March To The Gallows, and the wildness of the Witches' Sabbath. As thought-provoking as it is potent.