Also Sprach Zarathustra / Tod Und Verklarung

This cd is almost the ultimate dream box! Andre Previn, Richard Strauss, THE Vienna Philharmonic and Telarc Records. What could be better? More of the same. You have your wish. Four cd's in all, including an utterly stunning Alpesinfonie, a very good Don Juan an interesting Don Quiote and a decent, though a bit under sung Four Last Songs. (For a real slice of heaven, consider Lucia Popp and the eloquent Klauss Tennstedt on EMI). All with the gorgeously rich acoustics one expects from the fine folks at Telarc First the Sprach. Not my favorite Strauss poem, it is, none the less, a wonderful example of the dynamic contrasts one hears in Romantic music, in the hands of a master orchestrator.