Italy was the inspiration of many of Liszt works. Its art, buildings poetry, it was all a muse to him. Dante Symphony is about the descriptions of Dante in the Divine Comedy. It has a curious form, that makes it more a symphonic poem than a proper symphony.
The work consists of two parts, musical versions of Dantes descriptions of Inferno and Purgatory. It closes with a Magnificat, celebrating the grandness of the Creator. That Magnificat features a solo soprano and a choir. It premiered in Dresden in 1857 and was unofficially dedicated to Liszts future son in law Richard Wagner.
On the back of the cover it is said this was processed with Dolby A noise reduction. I don’t know if that makes this recording better, but it does sound really good. The big dynamic differences are quite impressive.