Open Web Player
This is an economically-priced 5-CD set of recordings from the 1950s done by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony. Despite the price, the 24/96 remastering is excellent and the original sound engineering is mixed but often very high quality (see the work-by-work assessment of the sound quality below). Reiner has well-deserved reputation for interpreting Richard Strauss and, while I don't believe the performance quality is always high, there are a number of performances here that are absolutely outstanding, even definitive. If you're looking for a sort of "core set" of Strauss orchestral music, this is the place to start. Note that the famous "Till Eulenspiegel" is not in the set - Reiner and the CSO recorded the work live in 1956 but not for Living Stereo.
This review is organized into two sections: first an assessment of the performance by Reiner and the CSO followed by a tabulation of recording date and the sound quality of the individual sessions.
Interpretation:
The Great: Reiner's performances at times are almost definitive. The individual performance that most impressed me was "Don Quixote" (1898), done with cellist Antonio Janigro. The precision and virtuosity of the playing is jaw-dropping. I also found several of the major tone poems outstanding. "Ein Heldenleben" (1898) is a virtuoso orchestral work that appropriately receives a virtuoso performance from the CSO. The interpretation of "Symphonia domestica" (1903) is lush and beautifully done. The single interpretation that pleased me most on a subjective level was "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (1896). I have spent my life listening to the two Karajan performances of this work and Reiner's take, with quick tempi and a tendency to highlight the individual instrumental lines rather than a mass of sound as Karajan does, has greatly increased my liking for this famous work. Although the incidental music to the "Bourgeois Gentilhomme" (1916) is not to my liking, there's no doubting the lush quality of Reiner's rendition.
The Good: "Death and Transfiguration" (1890) is taken quickly, which I think detracts from the final section, the linchpin of the tone poem. Still, a successful recording. I liked "Don Juan" (1889), again done at a very quick tempo. This tempo choice has some benefits, including a truly dynamic and sweeping finale, but I think it also slights the more contemplative sections, which lose their impact.
The Unsatisfactory: Disc 4 covers excerpts from Strauss' two proto-expressionist operas "Salome" (1905) and "Elektra" (1909). I find soprano Inge Borkh, a well-known dramatic soprano whose prime was the 1950s, to be technically unable to handle these very difficult roles. Reiner's conducting, which I find inelegant and melodramatic, was superseded by Georg Solti's recordings from the 1960s with "Salome" superseded once more by the terrific Karajan/Hildegard Behrens version in the 1970s. Whatever the subsequent interpretive history of these operas, Borkh and Reiner present flawed performances on technical and aesthetic grounds. The other interpretation I found supbar was of the Burleske for piano and orchestra (1890), done with Byron Janis. Reiner's conducting is raucous and frayed. My comparison of this effort with the version by Emmanual Ax and Wolfgang Sawallisch showed the more recent Ax recording to be considerably more polished and generally effective.
Sound quality (date of recording): I find it very strange that the sound quality of recordings done close together can vary so much and have no explanation for the disparity but will underline that the differences aren't subtle and are immediately obvious.
Also Sprach Zarathustra (1954) - "Historic" sound. Love the recording but the sound is a bit raw with pre-modern levels of distortion. Reiner & the CSO also recorded this work in 1962, so the selection of this version is interesting, as other reviewers have noted.
"Ein Heldenleben" (1954): Terrific recorded sound. "Heldenleben" and "Zarathustra" were recorded at about the same time so the significant difference in sound quality is hard to explain - but evident from a moment's listening.
"Don Quixote" (1959): Even better than "Heldenleben." Full-on audiophile-quality from the glory days of the Living Stereo label.
"Don Juan" (1954): On the level of "Zarathustra" - dated, historic sound. Reiner & the CSO also recorded this tone poem in 1960.
"Elektra"/"Salome" excerpts (1954/6): Pretty decent sound. No objections.
"Burleske"/"Rosenkavalier Waltzes" (1957): Weaker engineering. More distortion than modern recordings. Inconsistent volume levels at times.
Death and Transfiguration: (1950): The earliest session in this boxed set, the recording is "historic" with less detail and more distortion than the later sessions.
"Symphonia domestica"/"Bourgeois Gentilhomme" (1956): Back to audiophile quality engineering. It sounds absolutely beautiful.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Top reviews from other countries
Costa Flavio
Reiner dirige Strauss Sony classical masters
Reviewed in Italy on July 10, 2014
Diablotin67
Une somme de haute tenue à tout petit prix
Reviewed in France on March 14, 2015