The musical world isn't exactly screaming for another disc of Wagner excerpts and overtures, but this is a good one by and large. On the deficit side, Maazel takes more than 21 minutes to slog through the Siegfried Idyll, a slender and charming piece that sounds uncomfortable when treated with the portentous heaviness of a Bruckner adagio. Otherwise things turn out rather well. Rienzi makes its Rossinian points with less than average vulgarity, the Meistersinger prelude moves along smartly and with admirable contrapuntal clarity, and Siegfried's Rhine Journey lacks nothing in color and spectacle. Wagner's Faust Overture, a fine and unaccountably neglected piece, fares particularly well in this grave and dignified reading. Finally, the prelude to Act 3 of Lohengrin makes the usual two or three minutes of noise. The recording, made in the acoustically ingratiating Jesus-Christus-Kirche, has both warmth and impact. On the whole then, Maazel directs a pleasing, if redundant, collection.

--David Hurwitz