Great Performers: Fritz Reiner
Like his fellow Hungarians George Szell and Antal Dorati, Fritz Reiner (1888–1963) was one of the great orchestra-building conductors in the post-war USA. Just as Szell created one of the world’s great ensembles in Cleveland, Reiner moulded the Chicago into an ensemble of precision and power; both still bear the imprint of these long-dead maestros.
Read more…Reiner was born and trained in Budapest (where he numbered Béla Bartók among his teachers) before working in Dresden, often with Richard Strauss, of whose music he became the most loyal transatlantic champion following his emigration in 1922. His first appointment was at the helm of the Cincinnati Symphony (1922–31), then, after a period teaching at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, he took over the Pittsburgh Symphony (1938–48). During this period, he also conducted regularly at New York’s Metropolitan Opera – productions there included a legendary 'Salome' (1949) with Ljuba Welitsch, the US premiere of Stravinsky’s 'The Rake’s Progress' (1951) and a celebrated production of 'Carmen' with Risë Stevens (which was recorded).
In 1953 he became Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and in the decade that followed he turned it into a universally recognised ensemble, largely thanks to the recordings he made for RCA Victor, often using their new Living Stereo technique (even 60 years later, they still sound extraordinarily vivid). With a breadth of repertoire perhaps only matched by his younger colleague Herbert von Karajan, he left a vast discography ranging from the classics to those shorter "pops" that have largely fallen out of favour today. But whatever he conducted he brought the same attention to detail, orchestral finesse and magnificent colour to bear. Composers greatly admired his approach, even if his players found his methods bordering on the brutal.
Reiner the hard taskmaster got amazing results; he ensured that his players were simply the best available and he kept them in peak condition – and it tells. Listen to his recordings of Richard Strauss to be confronted with the richest colours, not to mention the power that he could draw from his orchestra – his celebrated recording of the finale of Salome with Inge Borkh is a lesson in dramatic control and high-octane ensemble work. His Beethoven Fifth is similarly precise but also wonderfully expressive. Among the classic Reiner recordings is his 1955 account of his teacher, Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, a performance that has rarely been bettered. He was also a superb concerto partner, especially when working with big musical personalities, as can he heard in Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto (with Van Cliburn), the Brahms Violin Concerto (with Jascha Heifetz) or a warhorse like Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto (with Emil Gilels).