The São Paulo Symphony Orchestra under Frank Shipway – an expert in late-Romantic Austro-German repertoire – here perform two vast and enormously colourful works by Richard Strauss. The Alpine Symphony is a symphonic poem and is the last in a series of works that includes such masterpieces as Don Juan, Also sprach Zarathustra and Ein Heldenleben. The work is divided into 22 sections that flow in an unbroken sequence, marking the ascent and descent of the mountain, from before sunrise to after sunset. The work makes use of Strauss’ entire repertoire of orchestral pictorialism. The opera Die Frau ohne Schatten, used an even more opulent orchestration than the Alpine. It wasn’t until 1946 that Strauss, in his 82nd year, returned to the score in order to make his Symphonic Fantasy, based on highlights from the opera.