My favorite solo piano music is Albeniz's highly colorful Iberia, picturing in sound various aspects of his homeland. The wonderful source material led to later composers orchestrating various sections and in recently looking for a disc containing the orchestrated selections, I ran into a bit of a surprise discovery. One of my favorite CDs is the terrific Berglund recording of Smetana's
Ma Vlast(My Country) with the superb Dresden State Orchestra, one of the 3 or 4 finest in Europe. This has been recommended before in group listings and as a "Stunning" selection, and those who don't have it should certainly consider it. I'd never heard Dresden's "second" orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, before, but judged by
this wonderful Spanish collection it's also a virtuoso group. Colorful Albeniz, DeFalla and Ravel selections, energetically performed in fine sound.
