Hector Berlioz's "Lélio" is a dramatic monodrama scored for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra—a work that sits somewhere between concert piece and opera, bursting with Romantic excess and genuine invention. This 2021 Orfeo recording features the Vienna forces under the guidance of Michael Gielen, with soloists Joachim Bißmeier and Herbert Lippert joining the Wiener Singakademie and ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester. Berlioz wrote this as a companion to his earlier "Symphonie fantastique," and it shares that work's theatrical ambition and orchestral color. Gielen was known for his clear-headed approach to Romantic drama, finding structure without losing passion. This recording captures the work's strange, genre-defying character—neither pure opera nor pure symphony, but something uniquely Berliozian. It's a theatrical experience for the ears.

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