Sir Colin Davis - Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette, Overtures (2002)

Colin Davis' Berlioz has in general tended to draw some rave reviews from the critics, and while I am not always in agreement with them, I have to admit that this is probably the best version of the sprawling and flawed but ultimately rather rewarding work available. His abilities to draw various color nuances - darker ones, in particular - from the orchestra, especially the wind section, are marvelous. The soloists are in general good, too, and overall this urgent reading should warrant a safe recommendation.
But Davis and Berlioz at their best come in the selection of overtures. These are thrillingly executed, drawing some spectacular playing from the orchestra. And how varied but consistently good they sound in these performances; Le Corsaire is utterly thrilling, King Lear bold and dark, Waverley is spectacularly and wistfully majestic, Béatrice et Bénédict hugely enjoyable, Les Francs Juges dazzlingly glorious. Overall, this is a safe recommendation even if it makes a strong case for the claim that Berlioz simply wasn't at his best in the large scale works he was so fond of writing but rather in the shorter always superbly orchestrated overtures.