At long last, I finally got this CD just about a week ago. To me, the highlight ends up being a work I'd never heard before: Die Braut von Messina. This ends up being somewhat bizarre and a touch rambly (not necessarily in a bad way). The orchestration is, as with all Rufinatscha I've heard, rich and complex without being overly syrupy or bombastic, and even at its harshest moments doesn't offend my ears. I especially like the last 2 minutes or so, it's quite dramatic and exciting. This is a work definitely worth hearing.
The Symphony #6 was already one of my favourite symphonies, and I thought with Chandos we'd get exceptional audio quality. Yep, they delivered, as usual. What I'm not so sure about is the performance. The orchestra demonstrates superior clarity to the world-premiere recordings from the Tiroler Landesmuseen, and this is not just about the great audio quality from Chandos. I really like orchestral clarity, where individual parts are more easy to pick out. But to be honest, there are certain elements to the original recording that I prefer, but it's really hard to put my finger on.
I'd rarely ever think that having two recordings of the same work is necessary, but in this case, if someone has the money, I'd probably recommend getting both. The orchestral clarity and overall sound quality from this Chandos disc is just excellent, and it gives a chance to get a more clean and nuanced "view" of Rufinatscha's extraordinary orchestral abilities. The orchestral terrain that he lays down would be worth exploring even if he completely lacked any gift for melody, climax, &c., but he most definitely was not lacking in other departments!
