Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances / The Isle of the Dead, Opp. 29,45

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) produced in 1909 one of this century's most enduring tone poems in The Isle of the Dead. Based on a gloomy painting by Arnold Bocklin (reproduced on the cover of this London CD), it manages to incorporate many of the musical fads of the day without sounding at all faddish. You can hear bits of Wagner and Mahler; but you can also get a whiff of Debussy's Impressionism and a dollop of Scriabin. At the opposite end of the spectrum is Symphonic Dances (1940), a thoroughly joyous orchestral work. Get this for the clarity of the music and the Bocklin cover. --Paul Cook