On the tenth anniversary of the European Concerts – held annually since 1991 to commemorate the day on which the orchestra was founded – Mariss Jansons and the Berliner Philharmoniker in Istanbul are received with rapturous ovation. Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, in which both minute details and large-scale contracts are elicited, is an ebullient fi nale; soloist Emmanuel Pahud renders centerpiece Mozart’s Second Flute Concerto ever agile, emotive and refreshing; and Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 opens the gala with similar buoyancy and festivity. Recorded live at the Hagia Eirene church, Istanbul, 1 May 2001
Haydn: Symphony No. 94 in G Major (Surprise/Mit dem Paukenschlag); Mozart: Concerto for Flute, D Major, K. 314; Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique op. 14