David Harbin writes (in part):

>However, there were recordings with moments of magic.  I love Sinopoli's
>Salome.  The orchestra takes on real character. . .
>
>I am also grateful to have heard his Gurreleider.  . . he and his stunning
>orchestra (Staaskapelle Dresden) made me hear details in the score for the
>first time. . .
>
>Perhaps others on the list could mention recordings by Sinopoli that caught
>their attention.

I can't speak to recordings, but I was privileged to be in the audience
here at Wheaton this past January 31 when Sinopoli led the Dresden
Staatskapelle in an all-Strauss program consisting of Don Juan, Tod und
Verklaerung and Heldenleben.  I won't speak to Heldenleben, which is a
piece that I respect but don't love.  However, I have rarely heard as
transcendent and beautiful a performance of anything as Sinopoli's
presentation that night of Tod und Verklaerung.  It was far, far from
being self-indulgent or histrionic; instead, it was genuinely and deeply
felt, and made coherent sense on both emotive and structural levels.  The
orchestral playing was a marvel of elegance and warmth.  In particular, the
first desk wind and brass played with rare distinction.  I was profoundly
moved, very nearly to tears, by what I heard, and many of us agreed that
this one performance alone was one of the very finest things the Artist
Series had presented in decades.

I feel fortunate indeed to have heard what may have been Sinopoli's last
American concert.  (My understanding is that the orchestra headed back to
Germany directly from O'Hare.)  In any case, it's unfortunate that won't
be more.

DPHorn