Blomstedt is not a glamorous personality, but to my mind he ranks high among the living giants of the podium. A low-key, undervalued, underestimated giant perhaps but listen to those Nielsen discs and there's no doubt about his stature. --Gramophone 　　  　　Blomstedt ranks high among the living giants of the podium. --Gramophone 　　  　　Released to coincide with Blomstedt s return to San Francisco for concert dates in Spring 2014 (3-6th April), this limited edition set celebrates an era-defining conductor/orchestra relationship. 　　  　　In celebration of his return to the San Francisco this April, Decca presents 15 of the greatest of his SFS recordings, some of which have not been available for some time. Recordings of Hindemith, Nielsen, Brahms, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Schubert that really stand out. 　　  　　Herbert Blomstedt, 86 years young, is now regarded as one of the last torch bearers of the great Austro-Germanic tradition. He has served as principal conductor of the two oldest great German orchestras, the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Leipzig Gewandhaus. 　　  　　He also is an expert in Nordic repertoire, being Swedish, though born in the USA. It is in the USA where on record he made the most impact with 10 still much-talked about years as music director of the San Francisco Symphony (1985 to 1995). With this orchestra, he and Decca made some of the most spectacular orchestral recordings to date, still prized and cited as reference versions by collectors.