Robin Ticciati - Scottish Chamber Orchestra - Berlioz: Les nuits d'ete - BBC Radio 3 'CD Review'

From 10.25am:

‘...recordings I've really enjoyed recently.'

‘Given the recent quality of Ticciati and the SCO's recent discs of Berlioz...given the world class competition that's already out there, it might be easy to overlook this one.  On the other hand, if you heard the song I played you when it first came out, you'll already know that this is something special.'

‘It's an excellent display of the richness of her voice and the vocal and dynamic range. And the playing while the chamber scale sucks us into the heart of the poetry with the really clean, clear sound the Scottish Chamber Orchestra can produce.'

‘...striking just the right balance between chamber intimacy and vivid orchestral detail. Cargill's performance is a revelation for me, she inhabits the text and Berlioz's phrases so beautifully...Excellent pronunciation, diction and colour as well and we heard hints of the emotional operatic heft that she brings to the death of Cleopatra, Berlioz's dramatic cantata...it's an impeccably balanced recording as well close as you heard, with an attractive warmth and bloom...'