If I Could Choose Only 1 Recording By...FRITZ REINER
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 พ.ย. 2023
- It Would Have To Be....Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (Chicago Symphony/RCA)
Because the work has never been played more excitingly, or captured in more vivid stereo sound. - เพลง
Reiner conducted with tiny hand gestures that forced the players to look at him. The story goes that a Chicago Symphony musician once brought a pair of binoculars to a rehearsal. When Reiner asked what they were for, the player joked, "I'm trying to find the beat". He was fired on the spot.
The story I recall was that it was a bassist who was looking through one of those telescoping spyglasses. Anyway, good story. Reiner wasn’t known for his compassion towards errant members of the orchestra.
I've been very confused by this story, because it's be told time and time again. However the few video performances we have show a very reasonable and clear baton technique. Economic baton language for sure but reasonably visible. Anyone able to clear this up for me?
Reiner probably had one of the most consistently high level of performances ever recorded, and his Heldenleben on all levels has never been equaled in my listening experience. As a performance, the 1928 Mengelberg is marvelous, too, but the recorded sound can't compare to what was given to Reiner. I wouldn't be able to choose "just one" Reiner recording, for me it would be impossible to choose among this Heldenleben, the Strauss Don Quixote, 1954 Don Juan and Also Sprach Zarathustra, and the Respighi Pines of Rome and Mahler Das Lied von der Erde. One of the giants of the podium.
Ein Heldenleben was recorded March 6, 1954. Zarathustra was recorded 2 days later.
Fabulous "experimental" stereo from almost 70 years ago. Both done with very simple microphone set-ups.
My first thought was Respighi's "Pines of Rome" but this is a great choice.
Wow! ...I DIDN'T guess it, but the second you said it, it has always been my favorite recording of Reiner's. I heard a live performance -- in fact MY teacher played the solo -- then I bought the only cheap, ugly-cover recording (RCA Victrola) I could afford, from the budget section. It's just plain perfect -- the cover did it no justice.
Reiner - this, coupled with the Borkh Salome and Elektra bits!
Nice shout-out to RCA's engineering team. Richard Mohr always did a great job of recording the CSO in warm and vivid sound. I wouldn't have picked "Heldenleben" as the one and only Reiner recording, as I don't like the piece as a whole and find way too much note-spinning in it. I probably would have voted for his "Pictures," "Scheherazade," "Concerto for Orchestra," or the double coupling of his Beethoven 1 & 6.
The recordings of the team of producer, Richard Mohr and recording engineer Lewis Layton were definately state of the art in the mid fifties. Many of their recordings sound like they were done last year. I'm not aware if their techniques were kept top secret, although much of the science was probably published in professional audio journals. My point is that Mohr and Layton's methods should have become industry standard by the late fifties, instead we have a bunch of poorly recorded classical LPs well into the 70's and 80's. What went wrong?
This particular recording was not done by Richard Mohr and Lewis Layton--they did the mono version. In March of 1954, RCA was still doing stereo on an experimental basis, with producer John Pfeiffer in charge, usually with engineer Leslie Chase--in short there were two recording teams, one doing the mono recording for immediate release, the other working at stereo techniques for future use.
This particular recording was made with 2 microphones. I'll repeat that--only 2 microphones were used, but Chase got them in just the right position to pick up the orchestra with good balance and clarity. The rest of the credit for the recording balances must go to Reiner and the orchestra, as there were no spot mics to muddy the sonic picture. As the stereo pickup was experimental, no backup tape machines were run--I think they had a pair of 2-track recorders made by RCA, and that was it. But the sound that was recorded was so impressive, that Pfeiffer made sure that a complete performance was edited together for future issue, and that is what we hear today.
Great, very detailed commentary. Thanks.
Just heard it on Apple (entire big box is there) Really remarkable! Stunning really how it is head and shoulders above anything I’ve heard before. Great pick!
A great choice, Dave! I'm a big Reiner fan: if terrorising an orchestra gets these results, then I'm all for more of it ;-)
I might have plumped for his Scheherzadhe or Mahler 4 (which I imprinted on, along with Szell's version) but Reiner was a great Strauss conductor, no doubt.
With so many to choose from, it's tough to pick just one, but since I like the piece, I can't disagree. Reiner worked closely with Strauss for several years and had a better handle on his music than most conductors.
My choice is simple. It's the first one I ever heard. Fritz Reiner, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Rossini Overtures. La Cenerentola stands out!
A great one but I was always disappointed that he didn't include the greatest of them, Semiramide
More than 40 yrs later I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the Reiner/Chicago recording of "Zarathustra." Vividness, clarity and impact, indeed! You've nailed it again, Dave.
He chose Ein Heldenleben not Zarathustra.
@@user-tv3bu9jd3v No shit, Sherlock. Zarathustra was recorded two days after Heldenleben. You've nothing better to do?
The Heldenleben is glorious especially for brass lovers... The battle scene is particularly awesome from start to finish.... I've heard more than a dozen recordings of Heldenleben and none surpass the Reiner recording!
I fully agree, spectacular version (I have it coupled with an equally fantastic "Also sprach Zarathustra").
I have this recording. Haven't listened to it in a good while, but now time to give another listen!
You'll love it!
I think my Reiner choice would be the remarkable Liebermann Concerto for Jazz Band and Orchestra. I mean, there are sooooo many more great recordings of everything else, but this is a one off....and with the Sauter-Finegan orchestra, is a truly great recording.
Well it's certainly the most offbeat work the Chicago Symphony's ever recorded.
I think I'd plump for the Isle of the Dead. Or Don Quixote. How to choose from such a legacy?
i immediately recognized the sleeve in the thumbnail and i wondered why that would be your pick, considering how uneven you think that specific piece is. But it makes complete sense; Reiner did practically everything with great success, but to get that one right front to back is a particular achievement.
People kind of tend to forget Reiner's Haydn symphony recordings...they aren't many, but boy, oh boy, they are wonderful!
Haydn himself was such a kind, generous soul. It's such a conundrum why all the grimm guys with their sardonic wit and acerbic humour realises his symphonies to a 't': Szell, Reiner, Böhm, Klemperer (before he fell asleep during recording sessions, that is!), Sanderling (oh, those Paris Symphonies!)!
An excellent choice Dave, but for me it's going to be his 1962 Zarathustra. All these years later I can still remember getting off the bus with my newly purchased LP, running home, cranking it up full blast, and being utterly bowled over by it. Even those of my friends that were committed Rock and Roll fans were impressed with it.
I know exactly what you mean. That 1962 Also Sprach Zarathustra is my favorite recording by anybody and IMO the best thing they ever did!
That Ein Heldenleben and the 1962 Also Sprach Zarathustra are my favorite recordings of anything by anybody. Truly in a class of their own! The wonderful acoustics of Orchestra Hall Chicago had a that time had a tremendous amount to do with the sonic success of these classic CSO/Reiner recordings. The unbelievably incompetent 1966 renovation to install air conditioning destroyed the originally wonderful acoustics. The hall was so acoustically trashed the record companies had to go to Medinah Temple to record the great Chicago Symphony Orchestra. What an insult to these great musicians and their audience!
Well, yes, but the place smelled a lot better after they put in a/c.
No. Destroying the acoustics of a major American symphony orchestra's home hall is no laughing matter.
What an unbelievably insensitive thing to say. Shame on you Dave.
I love Reiner Ein Heldenleben, but if I had to choose only one it would have to be between his Tchaikovsky Symphony 6 and Pictures of an exhibition.
Hard to pick just one. Probably the Bartok Concerto or String percussion & Celeste. He had a way of taking "fluff" seriously. His Sherherazade is marvelous, and his CSO Strauss waltzes are brimming with Vienese charm. Pines and Fountains - spectacular. I would listen to them more than Ein Heldenleben, great as it is just because the music isn't my favorite. But when I need a quick fix of Reiner's precision and energy, I go for his FIDELIO overture. THATS some crazy , exact playing
I wish he had recorded all the Brahms symphonies for RCA. And of course he gives Heifetz great support on the Brahms and Tchaikovsky. Why have those recording techniques been lost to history. Digital recording can't replicate the warmth and clarity of Mohr and Layton from over 60 years ago? Why?
I think you over-generalize. Recording is an art. The technology is less important.
@@DavesClassicalGuide My point exactly. Mohr and Layton were great artists
There is a cd coupling of the one you recommend and Reiner's first Also Sprach...which has the distinction of being the first Living Stereo in the catalog. The lp was LSC 1806 and was "recorded" in stereo in late 1954, with RCA knowing that stereo lps would soon be the thing. Among Living Stereo collectors, the first Also Sprach is rumored as having the best string sound of any lp in the Living Stereo series. Yet on the cd coupling, the Ein sounds like it is in a higher class sonically than the Strauss: Also Sprach. It's hard to choose between Ein, Rossini Overtures and Scheherazade. Some of the tracks from the rare lp LSC 2241 are also considerations as among his brst work ever.
The unfortunate thing about the 1954 Also Sprach is the out-of-tune organ; it's hard to see why someone didn't get that issue resolved before the recording date. Reiner's 1962 Also Sprach is a wonderful performance, also in great sound, AND with an in-tune organ.
I've never actually compared the two. Most like the performance of the one I mentioned. I have also heard people complain that the organ notes were not as low as intended on the Living Stereo lps due to disc cutting technicalities and the phono cartridges at the time being able to track properly. Me, I think I'd forgive a little out of tuneness on the organ for a better performance; if it was a better performance. I'll have to listen to both one day; but it will be hard, as it isn't music I like that much. Funny no one mentioned Reiner's Strauss Waltzed Living $tereo album. Now that's one I can play over and over again.
Haydn is a favorite. This past summer I bought the complete London Symphonies with Eugene Jochum conducting. Not many mentioning the piano concertos Reiner conducted. I guess the maestro takes the back seat to the virtuoso in concertos.
@@sidesup8286I beg to differ... The magical Reiner/Horowitz recording of Beethoven's 5th piano concerto is a good example.The mesmerising, hushed orchestral introduction to the 2nd movement; the bridge from the second movement to the third.. .no backseat driving here, but a meeting of two like minded appolinian giants!
I will have to listen to that Horowitz/Reiner. Thanks. I do really like some of the piano concertos Reiner conducted.
My 1st choice would be scenes from salome and elektra with inge borkh
Welcome all ye members of the MFA (Musical Fetishists Anonymous)! Seriously, though, it had to be either Strauss or Bartok. I would have chosen Reiner's equally great recording of the latter's "Concerto for Orchestra." Never surpassed for both orchestral virtuosity and absolute clarity of both form and content. However, "Ein Heldenleben" is equally grand as an offering to the Crabby God. Here are two suggestions for further offerings. Oistrakh: the Brahms Violin Concerto with Klemperer. A performance of great character. It's all about the music and not about showy virtuosity, though there's virtuosity to burn. Szell: I'd nominate his Beethoven "Eroica." If there's a more exciting and cogent recording of this work, I have yet to hear it.
Excuse me Dave let me ask is Fritz made recordings in europe for VPO for Brahms, Dvorak & Strauss only? I'm not sure since I can't find any confirmation about it.
The Verdi Requiem too. Not much.
He recorded Death and Transfiguration and some Brahms Hungarian Dances and Dvorak Slavonic Dances with the VPO.
Something off-topic here but I really want to ask, has Reiner ever recorded all 9 Beethoven symphonies? Anyone knows?
I don't believe he ever did. I'm pretty sure I would have come across it over these many decades.
@@maximisaev6974 Thank you.
It might be a great recording, but I just have never liked Heldenleben...no matter who's conducting. My Reiner choice would be Scheherazade.