Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra; Till Eulenspiegel; Tod und Verklärung
Certain characteristics distinguishing Herbert Blomstedt's earlier  traversals of these works with the Staatskapelle Dresden are mirrored in the  conductor's Bay Area remakes: mellow brass chording, pungent woodwind solos,  singing strings, and freedom from interpretive excess. The recording places the  orchestra at enough distance for the sonority to congeal as heard from an  excellent front-row-center seat. The sonics reinforce my impression that  Blomstedt is wielding a lighter, more incisive baton on this go-round. To be  sure, there are more desolate, anguishedDeath & Transfigurations,  funnierTill Eulenspiegels lustige Streiches, and more catharticAlso  Sprach Zarathustras out there in CD land, but there's no finer combination  of these three tone poems on one disc.--Jed Distler