Recorded with 20-bit technology and enhanced by Spatializer for added surround-sound ambiance, these highly-emotional works represent the core of Wagner's music. Included on this CD are the Prelude to Act I of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg; the Overtures to Rienzi, The Flying Dutchman, Tannhauser and Faust; and the Prelude and Liebestod of Tristan und Isolde.

With a harmonic structure that stretched Romantic music to its tonal limits and often hinted towards the dissolution of classical tonality, the overwhelming power of Wagner's music had a considerable influence on nineteenth-century thought. Wagner believed in settings, action and music become so tightly joined that there was no separation between art forms...all were one.

Under the direction of Lopez-Cobos, the Cincinnati Symphony preserves the mystery and atmosphere of these pieces. The orchestra's balanced string choirs, its horns and caressing solo woodwinds, deliver expert performancew of these overtures.