But what makes this disc special is the inclusion of a work that Gielen recorded before, rather murkily, for Koch Schwann: Franz Schreker's amazingly decadent, hypnotic, tuneful, and otherwise absolutely gorgeous Prelude to a Drama (an expanded version of the prelude to the opera Die Gezeichneten). Here is one of the great masterpieces of late-Romantic orchestration, and Gielen's is the finest performance available--more clearly recorded than the competition on EMI, and more accurately played than the recent Chandos release. Gielen's keen ear uncovers more detail in this lavishly over-scored extravaganza than you would have thought possible, from the quiet percussion and rippling strings of the opening, to the eerie sounds that accompany the hallucinatory central procession. This well recorded disc is worth acquiring for the Schreker alone.