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"The live audience, dead silent until the end, erupts in a wild and well-deserved ovation. This is a superb Fantastique, and the recording captures it in all of its grotesque glory." - Fanfare “... there's a passionate restraint about Salonen's readings that is far more telling than many more overtly histrionic versions ... clearly prioritising musical imperatives over mere pictorialism, yet with no shortage of electricity in the air, either emotional or elemental.” - BBC Music Magazine "The Philharmonia plays beautifully for Esa-Pekka Salonen ... The orchestra's woodwind section particularly distinguishes itself, with eloquent, forlorn exchanges between the oboe and cor anglais in the Scene aux Champs ... a well-turned, thoughtful performance." - International Record Review This live performance of Belioz's Symphonie Fantastique and Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 2 by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen was recorded in 2008 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. While the Berlioz is an extremely familiar, often-recorded work, the Beethoven Overture is more obscure and was rarely performed live even in Beethoven's day. The Philharmonia interprets both pieces with the usual brilliance and sensitivity responsible for its reputation as one of the world's finest orchestras.