Customer Reviews

The Reiner Sound

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This cd contains top recordings (well, nearly peerless) of Island of the dead by Racmaninov, especially in great sound and style,-not surprisingly Mohr and Layton impressive production job. It is known for quite a long time as audiophile's favourite and truly deserves the praise it has received for years in the hifi press;the sonics are amazing and the Chicago Orchestra could be compared to the best orchestras from Europe. F.Reiner stands on high heels with a devastatingly beautiful Pavane, from Ravel;the Spanish Rhapsody reveals a richly textured atmosphere.

Fritz Reiner has never let me down. A minimalist leaving the music to speak for itself. All pieces of this great CD are amazing, though my favourite is the "Totentanz". Byron Janis, passionate as always, gives the reading of a lifetime. The "Isle" is great too, among the very best I have heard, though the sound is not always supporting the music making - especially before the first climax. As an alternative I would go with Askhenazy (Decca). Still a must....

For those of you who think Rachmaninoff is a superficial composer, this is the CD for you. Reiner's Isle of the Dead spoils you for any other - listening to another performance you can't help but begin thinking how it falls short. Long before George Solti, Reiner whipped the Chicago Symphony - often, apparently, through sheer terror - into an orchestra that was second to none, with many of its most phenomenal performances documented by RCA in recordings whose sound, even though they date back the dawn of the stereo age, surpasses most CD's issued today. From its opening measures, Reiner's performance of Isle of the Dead grabs you by the throat and never lets go.

The Chicago Symphony was a great orchestra even before Solti, although it was only during Fritz Reiner's tenure (1953-62) that it began to be recognized as such. This disc gives you some idea of the range of repertoire they addressed, and with what skill.

The Ravel recordings have been reissued many times and are superbly done. The Weber is a delight, wonderfully unbuttoned. The Liszt, well, is not my cup of tea. I prefer my dances of death a little more sedate, thank you.

The real treasure of this CD is the Rachmaninoff (or -ov, if you prefer). I first heard this recording played on a then long unavailable LP in a used record shop in Philadelphia about 25 years ago. It's a gripping, surging powerful reading that has rarely been available, until this re-issue. There was a short-lived Gold Seal LP transfer in the 1970s, rather poorly done. The CD, however, has all the thrust of the original LP, and then some. Reiner and his orchestra carry you over the waves to the dark island of Bocklin's painting. This is not to be missed by any lover of Rachmaninoff's Romantic gloom.

THIS is a wonderful recording. Conductor Fritz Reiner was to Chicago what Koussevitzky was to Boston, or what Karajan was to Berlin, for that matter. The quality of musicianship is utterly peerless, like RCA's procedures in recorded sound. Those recordings are examples of the "Golden Years" in orchestral sound ; long lost now the decades of minimalist miking and truly creative techniques for the sake of no-compromise audio. For collectors or music amateurs, 'The Reiner Sound' is a good place to start if you want to sample the artistic scope of Reiner/CSO in their prime. The Isle of the Dead (by Rachmaninoff) is a powerful example of the greatest recordings the 1950's have to offer. And there is one of the finest moments of pure Ravelian rhetoric and expressiveness in the Pavane, alongside a most colorful Rapsodie espagnole. Take note though that one of the finest Rapsodies on record is the Monteux/LSO (London / Decca, 1962) : According to the Journal of Recorded Music (Recollections), "Monteux offers a subtle and perfumed reading of the Rapsodie espagnole that is sensuous and erotic. The whole performance has both a slow, insinuating swagger and a quicksilver response that become paradoxically seamless. The London Symphony plays with astonishing virtuosity." Similarly, some of the finest accounts of the Pavane and the Rapsodie are to be found together on a magisterial Mercury disc with Paray and the Detroit Symphony (also including Ibert's Escales and more Ravel, notably a startling version of La Valse). The Reiner Sound offers electrifying performances in demonstration sound quality. His Isle of the Dead is still probably the finest on disc and his Ravel belongs to the greats. If you're new to those works and/or to Fritz Reiner's CSO, you ought to check out for this album. *****

This compilation is an amazing way to know Reiner's art in music. He was
with no doubt one of the greatest interpreters in conducting`s history and
this CD shows how Reiner was a great magician making an orchestra play and
sound with so high levels of precision and beauty. A must for every classical
music collection.

I will immediately admit to being a rabid Fritz Reiner fan. I have enjoyed his music making since I was knee high to a grasshopper. This disc in RCA Living Stereo is just another reason why. His interpretation of the Isle of the Dead is to die for! His Rapsodie Espanole is rhapsodic! In between a dazzling Totentanz (Dance of Death) and Isle of the Dead, he throws in a sparkling Invitation to the Dance just to prove that he handles light and happy moments as well if not better than the dreadful ones. Not only are the selections on this disc spectacular in spite of some other reviewers comments, but each is presented in the professional and pleasing way that Reiner above all 20th century conducting geniuses was able to accomplish.

Just a word about the sound. RCA has once again weaved its magic in presenting these 50's recordings to the demanding and critical 21st century listeners. I am constantly amazed when I hear these Living Stereo discs by the attention to detail and flawless presentations that they offer.

A super buy at any price, and even more especially so at this modest cost! You will be very glad you purchased this Reiner offering. It is not only a great introduction to the marvelous conductor, but a wonderful addition to any collection.

The master tapes are getting long in the tooth in the old RCA vaults, but this recording still shines. I own it on first release vinyl--and playing it is the auditory equivalent of opening a really good wine. The LP preserves the sound of the original master tape back when it was newly made, but it's great to have it on CD to play more often.

The original Living Stereo master tapes were three-channel: left, right and an ambient channel to capture the sonics of the performance space. It would be great, when a multi-channel music audio format becomes commercially viable, for BMG to remaster the Living Stereo series in three-channel form (and at a 24-bit or higher uncompressed sampling rate).

It would probably take an engineer as talented as Lewis Layton to remaster these classics correctly, but it would be worth it: Living Stereo in surround stereo could really put you in the middle of the concert hall, which was Living Stereo's inherent promise all along.

Reiner looks unusually dyspeptic, even for him, on the cover of this smorgasbord CD. Maybe it's the musical menu that got to him. Ravel, Liszt, and Rachmaninov is like a dinner of cotton candy, spicy goulash, and embalming fluid. These recordings from 1957-59 sound miraculous--it's the Living Stereo sonics rather than the bogus "Reiner Sound" that should be the title. Or "The Chicago Symphony Sound," which was equally miraculous.

The best thing here is at the beginning. Ravel can sound slithery and glib, but not in Reiner's hands. He make Rhapsodie Espagnole and Pavane for a Dead Princess move along to a steady beat, and because of the CSO's immaculate precision, the result is wonderful Ravel for those who avoid Ravel. Five stars.

After that, there's not much to say. Liszt's Totentanz, a quasi-piano concerto based on the Dies Irae, is out-and-out claptrap, here played within an inch of its life by Byron Janis. Weber's Invitation to the Dance sits weirdly in this mix; it is given a highly polished but not very happy reading. The ultimate sonic blockbuster here is the gloomy Rachmaninov Isle of the Dead, which sounds like Tchaikovsky on a double dose of downers. Even so, Reiner's tense, dramatic conducting, which refuses to succumb to the vapors, plus RCA's stellar sound, saves the day. Five stars.

In all, this hodgepdge was clearly an excuse to throw together some Reiner recordings that didn't fit anywhere else. I would recommend listening one piece at a time rather than trying to digest the whole olla pordrida. Or use it as a stereo demonstration record, in which case the actual musical content doesn't matter.