REINER CONDUCTS RICHARD STRAUS

Reviews of some of the earlier releases that make up this set: Symphonia domestica, Le bourgeois gentilhomme "Fritz Reiner’s 1956 performance of Richard Strauss’s Symphonia domestica was essentially its first recording in modern stereo sound. As such, it probably introduced the work to many American listeners. Prior to this, recordings conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Clemens Krauss and the composer himself with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra were undoubtedly authoritative, but hardly competitive from a sonic standpoint. Subsequently, fine stereo versions by Rudolf Kempe (EMI), Herbert von Karajan (Deutsche Grammophon), and Zubin Mehta (Decca-London) have been released, but none of them are superior to Reiner’s justly famous Living Stereo interpretation. This represents the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at its peak, and Reiner had no peer as a conductor of the orchestral music of Richard Strauss. If anything, Reiner’s no-nonsense style i