Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in this 1992 Sony Classical recording of Liszt's ambitious Faust Symphony. This is Liszt at his most expansive and modernistic—a large-scale work wrestling with Goethe's literary masterpiece through purely instrumental music. Bernstein's interpretation captures the work's visionary scope, with the orchestra playing with tremendous engagement. The work unfolds across three substantial movements, each depicting a different character from Goethe's narrative, culminating in a choral finale. This is Romantic-era ambition on a grand scale—music reaching for transcendence. Bernstein brings coherence to Liszt's sometimes sprawling material. Essential for anyone interested in 19th-century orchestral music and its relationship to literature.