Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; Igor Stravinsky - Scheherazade; Song of the Nightingale (Fritz Reiner)

Information

Composer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; Igor Stravinsky

• Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade, Op. 35
• Stravinsky - Le chant du rossignol

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Fritz Reiner, conductor

Date: 1960; 1956

Label: RCA

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Review

Here is another collection of fabulous RCA Living Stereo recordings. Reiner’s 1960 Scheherazade recording sounds superb in its new SACD format. As I have remarked about other recordings in this series, each incarnation of this famous, acclaimed recording, through LP, digital, CD etc, reveals more and more detail. Now, with no evidence of any tape hiss (it is understood that no filtering was applied in the engineering of this SACD), the sonic splendour of this popular warhorse reaches right out at you. The finale builds up to a tremendously thrilling climax at "The Shipwreck". Balance, spread, dynamics are all brilliantly realised, the strings have a radiant sheen, the solo violin (Sidney Harth) representing the young queen whose storytelling skills prolong and finally save her life in the court of the cruel Sultan is seductively and elegantly played, while the brass, burnished, ring out heroically, and woodwinds sing gloriously.

The booklet has the very interesting original LP note by the recording’s producer, Richard Mohr, in which he describes the Scheherazade recording session. He notes the acoustic challenges of Chicago’s Orchestra Hall and the ups and downs of the actual sessions, hour-by-hour, on February 8 1960. Mohr comments that "the final movement in this recording is a complete performance, without benefit of splicing, an orchestral achievement rarely equalled." Reiner’s reading is sumptuous, exciting and wonderfully sensuous.

There are, of course many, many alternative recordings of Sheherazade. Many more recent ones are spectacular in modern engineered sound (I especially treasured Kyril Kondrashin’s 1963 Philips recording with the Concertgebouw Orchestra with the sweet solo violin of Herman Krebbers (the Concertgebouw’s leader) but for this reviewer this Reiner recording remains near the top of the list together with my own personal favourite, the venerable, celebrated Beecham recording (1957) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (now available on the super budget HMV label in the UK)

It is astonishing to note that the Reiner recording of Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingale was recorded as early as 1956, only three years after RCA’s first experimental "binaural" recordings. The fidelity is amazing, the spatial elements, the sound stage extraordinarily wide. Reiner delivers a feast of shimmering colours, a reading of exotic chinoiserie, finely delineating and contrasting the beauty of the real nightingale with the harsh coldness of the mechanical one, and evoking the colourful court of the Chinese Emperor.

Superb new SACD refurbishments of two more classic Reiner recordings. The clarity and presence of the sound is very impressive.

-- Ian Lace

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Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (18 March 1844 – 21 June 1908) was a prominent Russian composer and a key figure in the development of Russian classical music. He was a member of the group of composers known as "The Five" which dedicated to creating a distinctively Russian sound. Rimsky-Korsakov is best known for his orchestral works, including Scheherazade, Capriccio Espagnol, and Russian Easter Overture. His compositions often feature vibrant orchestration, exotic themes, and rich harmonic textures. He also contributed to the development of Russian opera, with notable works such as The Snow Maiden and Sadko. 

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Igor Stravinsky (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian composer. Son of an operatic bass, he studied privately with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from 1902 to 1908. Soon after the impresario Sergei Diaghilev commissioned Stravinsky to write three ballets for the Ballets Russes: Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913). The last of which, with its shifting and audacious rhythms, was a landmark in music history. Later Stravinsky also adopted Neoclassicism and serialism in his composition. His major Neoclassical works include Oedipus rex (1927) and the Symphony of Psalms (1930).

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Fritz Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was an American conductor, best known for his work with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, of which he was music director from 1953 to 1962. Reiner studied piano with Béla Bartók, along with composition, conducting and percussion. He went to the United States as principal conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony (1922–31) and from 1931 to 1941 was head of the opera and orchestral departments at the Curtis Institute of Music. Before going to Chicago he was music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony (1938–48) and of the Metropolitan Opera (1948–53).

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