Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7; Coriolan Overture; Fidelio Overture

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

 

 

Fritz Reiner is frequently associated with composers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries such as Strauss and Wagner. In spite of this association, his performances of Beethoven's music are not to be ignored. Reiner was a stupendous interpretor of Beethoven and any listener of this CD will quickly understand why. The first movement of the 5th Symphony sets the pace for the entire performance. These are strait-forward interpretations but in no way does this subtract from their virtue. The playing and the precision of the orchestra is amazingly clean and disciplined (even by Reiner's standards if one can believe such a thing). In typical fashion, Reiner rules with a rod of iron and never lets the sound get carried away or even remotely perverse. In both symphonies and both overtures Reiner favors fast tempi and this is without a doubt very advantagous. The music is always moving and does not drag the way so many modern recordings of these works do. One of the most important aspects that these recordings have to offer is the fact that Reiner gives all of the movements in both symphonies equal attention to detail. He does not let the first and fourth movements completely dominate the second and third movements. In essence, he does not focus all of his energy on the powerful movements and let the minor ones flutter. For anybody who prefers very potent interpretations of Beethoven this is it.

First the sound quality is just satisfactory!coming to the performance it is fairly straightforward and good.nothing more than that.Better performances are offered by Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic for both these symphonies.as for the seventh my favourite is the MAGNIFICIENT performance by the legendary BRUNO WALTER and THE COLUMBIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA-Walter's pacing and buildup with subtle changes to the tempo and dynamics is just masterly-Full of Power and Joyous abandon.The Sound quality is quite good with Sony's 20 bit mapping.

To say this is my favorite version of Beethoven's Fifth is to say this disc means more to me than just about anything in the world! So you can imagine how much I love Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony performing this work (as well as the Seventh and the two overtures). Many people love Carlos Kleiber's Fifth the most. Why do I prefer Reiner? Well, I suppose it is the clean, no-nonsense approach immediately evident in the first notes. Those famous notes are like the springboard for the rest of the movement-- and the next three. Kleiber and Karajan are faster, Bernstein is slower. Reiner nails it with authority, and not the slightest hint of crudity or flashiness (as with Solti). The brass are excitingly raw; the whole orchestra is larger than life and miraculously recorded by the RCA engineers. This is stern, business-like Beethoven that seems to say, "It's only music, after all." The steadiness of Reiner (in all four works) should not be misinterpreted as boredom. His tyrannical eye creates an explosive energy beneath the proceedings, as Reiner seems to bully his way through like Edward G. Robinson in a 1930s gangster film. There are many enjoyable versions of these works, but this disc is the air I breathe.

This recording dates back to the second part of the Fifties and is still young and fresh. This is the Great Chicago Symphony conducted by the builder of that greatness. And this is one of the best performed 5th's I have heard so far. The Seventh Symphony included is a real beauty: it's Second Movement is particularly touching and the Last Movement of the Symphony as rendered is an "allegro con brio" where YOU KNOW the members of the Orchestra are right at the edge of their seats putting their hearts on their playing. They play with passion and ingenuity! . The Coriolan Overture has a majesty and magnificence very hard to describe. Buy this CD and for that money you will get with bonuses the Greatness of Beethoven by means of this brilliant Maestro and the Orchestra he helped to put in the Map of the Best Orchestras in the World. A true Winner!

Reiner's versions of both the 5th symphony and the Coriolan Overture remain unsurpassed nearly forty years later. The 5th symphony has a freshness that clears away the haze of years of hearing overblown interpretations, and the acoustic of the hall lends a wonderful finality to the Coriolan performance. There are many fine recordings of the 5th (I think with special fondness of Norrington's and of Karajan's 1960s versions), but if I had only one version on that apocryphal desert island, it would have to be Reiner's.

My first encounter with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony occurred many years ago when these two symphonies were released on LP. I absorbed Reiner's interpretations so thoroughly that I have since found it difficult to absorb any others. His insistence on precision, scrupulous attention to attacking a phrase, structuring a passage, and even pin-pointing a single note are most remarkable indeed. Such attention to detail has prompted numerous stories about Reiner's tyrannical agonizing over phrasing, dynamics, architectonics. These Beethoven symphonies (along with his Ninth) are so carefully structured under Reiner's conducting that one feels--at least I do--that he has some kind of mystical insight into the workings of Beethoven's muse. The fatalistic Fifth with its glorious and unparalleled linking that occurs between the third and fourth movements--one of the greatest moments in symphonic literature--and the "dance" of the Seventh with its pulsating rhythms and flashes of brilliant sunlight combine to showcase Reiner and his orchestra at their most powerful. Reiner attacks both symphonies with an energy that is--in my listening experience--unmatched. This same accuracy (Reiner's attention to careful musical pronounciation) is also apparent in the Coriolan and Fidelio overtures. Listen to the opening chord of the Coriolan: it is spoken crisply, accurately, and with great gusto. It strikes sharply and quickly. No other interpretation of this powerful overture is recorded with such majesty. These recordings from decades ago are audio spectaculars: RCA's "Living Stereo" is presented in its best light.