In this 'live' recording, captured during conductor Jaap van Zweden's opening weeks as music director of the New York Philharmonic, the primary focus is on orchestral colors and instrumental detail. Most conductors tend to emphasize the visceral impact of this work and overlook Igor Stravinsky's brilliant orchestration. The variety of woodwind instruments that launch the work and form the backbone of the whole 'Introduction' are given full prominence in this performance, and in the segments that follow, I admire the way the brass and percussion instruments naturally sound like they are positioned at the back of the orchestra and are not artificially spotlit or pulled forward. And the same attention to orchestral balance can be heard in this account of Claude Debussy's La Mer, the second work found on this disc. You can feel that the sound emanating from your speakers is that of a large orchestra as deep as it is wide, a soundscape quite befitting the sense of scope La Mer projects.

Obviously an offshoot of Decca, Decca Gold is a newly established US classical music label, which has established a partnership with the New York Philharmonic. This recording is definitely an indication of good things to come, although in this case, the recording engineers and/or technicians could have paid a little more attention to dynamic details. I may very well be wrong, but I assume that some of the tracks or movements were takes from different dates because sometimes there is a slightly noticeable volume level difference from track to track, but not enough to distract you from this captivating account.