This sequence of Wagner’s preludes and overtures ranges across his compositional output, from Rienzi, his first distinctive opera, through the stirring Prelude to Act I of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and the Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre, to his last work, Parsifal from which we hear the Good Friday Music. They are performed by the St Louis Symphony under the Polish conductor Jerzy Semkow who was the orchestra’s music director from 1975 to 1979.

Recorded in 1977 and released the following year on a quadraphonic LP pressings QTV-34719. It also appeared in 1993 as part of a 2-disc VoxBox edition CDX-5104.

The St Louis Symphony–Leonard Slatkin Rachmaninov recordings have won considerable acclaim, including the Piano Concertos nos. 2 and 3 with Abbey Simon on VOX-NX-3014CD: ‘Orchestral and piano tones are sleek and warm, and slow movements work best: the Second Concerto’s Adagio sostenuto has some fine climaxes… companionable throughout’ (BBC Music Magazine).

Polish Jerzy Semkow was music director of the St Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1975 to 1979, also recording for the Vox/Turnabout label with the Royal Danish Orchestra.

Founded in 1880, the St Louis Symphony is the second-oldest orchestra in the US and is widely considered one of the world’s finest. Recordings by the symphony have been honoured with numerous Grammy awards and nominations over the years.

The Elite Recordings for Vox by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.