This sonically spectacular recording of Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony was made with the internationally hand-picked players of the Saito Kinen Orchestra and recorded at the Saito Kinen Festival, Matsumoto, at the heart of the Japan Alps. Daniel Harding was specially invited to conduct the orchestra in the absence of Seiji Ozawa who, at that time, was still recuperating from treatment for cancer.

Voted among the World’s Greatest Orchestras by Gramophone magazine, the Saito Kinen Orchestra boasts the best Japanese players from the leading orchestras of Europe and North America as well as selected wind and brass principals from Berlin, Vienna, Philadelphia and Boston, among others. It is one of the world’s elite festival orchestras.

Demanding an unprecedented orchestra of 125 players, the Alpine Symphony was the last of Strauss’ great series of tone poems. Specially released to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Richard Strauss’ birth and the centenary of the symphony’s composition, this is the first Decca recording since 1988 and utilizes the latest 24 bit 96khz technology for a truly spectacular sound.