Richard Lewis, Royal Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra & Sir Thomas Beecham - Berlioz: Grande Messe Des Morts (1999)

The unpredictable Sir Thomas Beecham triumphs with one of the most cohesively satisfying versions of this ambitious opus on record, recorded live in 1959. Abetted by a splendid, if overly dominant chorus, Beecham's Royal Philharmonic is in its finest form, notwithstanding a few tentative brass entrances and misaligned chords. Tenor Richard Lewis sings well, although his forthright, stentorian delivery won't erase memories of Leopold Simoneau's more stylish and subtle "Sanctus" for Munch (RCA). Moreover, the full glory of Berlioz's spatial scoring is best experienced in stereo. Still, BBC offers immense sonic improvement over previous "underground" issues for this landmark performance of a work otherwise unrecorded by Beecham, and fits snugly onto a single disc. -- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com