At the heart of this volume are two of Rodrigo's finest orchestral works – Per la flor del lliri blau (1934) and A la busca del más allá (1976). The former is a symphonic poem based on a Valencian legend in which the three sons of a dying king go in search of a blue lily whose magic powers can save their father. The outcome is successful but tragic, as clearly depicted as that of the eponym of Elgar's Falstaff. A la busca del másallá was commissioned by the Houston Symphony for the bicentennial celebrations in the US. Their choice of composer may seem curious, but it proved a wise one. Its title ('In search of what lies beyond') reflected Houston's status as the centre of space exploration. How would Rodrigo, who had until then devoted his attention to all things Spanish and was then 75, deal with such an unfamiliar demand? The answer was that he did so with skill and imagination, leaving little or no trace of Spanishry. The curtain rises and falls with a long roll on an undamped cymbal, and the principal motif of what separates these events contains a 'questioning' tritone. The performances of all the 'fillers' are exemplary but it's the two large works that make this recording indispensable to Rodrigo lovers.