The liner notes to the CD decide to take the high road and do not bother to address the fact that Bruch was not Jewish but a patriotic German and that in the 1870s the two were not viewed as mutually exclusive, at least not universally anyway. Not only this, but also misconceptions about Bruch himself as composer of the popular Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra, his name and seemingly Jewish appearance in old photographs, a lot of listeners think Bruch was Jewish and would wonder why he would undertake such a property as Arminius. The big issue here - and it's an issue so big that it's almost equal to the size of the statue of Arminius in the Teutoborg forest - is the heritage of the Nazi period and general attitudes toward celebrating German military strength and might. Max of course is best known for conducting Baroque music, but in this two-disc set Max decisively puts his best foot forward. The orchestration is thrilling, the choral writing bountiful, and the soloists here put over their parts in an effective way without overdoing it. It is rousing, heroic, compelling, and follows a libretto that makes strong dramatic hay of its distant historical event in musical terms that certainly would have caused the sun to shine for its intended audience. First of all, Bruch's music is totally great there's not a dull moment anywhere in Arminius.