The overtures of
Hector Berlioz are in a class of their own, alternately zippy and jittery, redolent with nervous energy and languid, even meditative, this last quality being a particularly important influence on
Richard Wagner. Nonetheless, outside of the atypically gleeful Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9, most of
Berlioz's overtures are relatively little known and are only seldom recorded as a unit.
Sir Colin Davis is an old hand with
Berlioz, having recorded the Frenchman's entire orchestral output for Philips. Berlioz: Overtures in RCA Red Seal's series Classics Library was recorded during a brief spell that
Davis spent recording for RCA and was initially released in 1997 with a rather dour photo of the maestro on its front cover. The Classics Library version replaces this with a colorful and snappy image of a peacock feather and significantly undercuts the price of the full-price release even as the original full-price version is still technically available.