Berlioz: Les Troyens (Live)

John Nelson has conducted this huge score more times than anyone else, living or dead. Here, he directs a magnificent cast, massed choirs and a wonderfully responsive French orchestra in a superb recording taken from two live performances in Strasbourg in April 2017. Joyce DiDonato makes a regal yet very human Dido, and Michael Spyres is an ardent Aeneas, while Marie-Nicole Lemieux stuns with her intense Cassandra. A truly overwhelming experience and a new benchmark for this great work—arguably the classical recording event of 2017.