(in the year before Dr. Walter's own death.. his friend Mahler's own 9th symphony) "he unerringly builds up consistent structure, controlling tempo closely... middle movements are sharply focussed, and the finale tough and stoically strong" (3 stars) (4th) "sound has attractively vivid detail, naturally glowing... everything Reiner does sounds spontaneous... Viennese influence strong... slow movement striking intensity... Lisa della Casa in ravishing voice" (both Penguin Guide)

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 is even more suited to the charming, chamber-like Le bourgeois gentilhomme Suite."

-- Arthur Lintgen, Fanfare [1/2008]

Scenes From Salome And Elektra
"Solti's now-infamous comment that the Chicago Symphony was a provincial orchestra before he appeared is further discounted by the reissue of these unrivalled performances. None of Reiner's successors as a Strauss conductor, neither Solti himself, Kempe nor Sawallisch, seems quite to achieve the clarity of texture, mastery of line and intensity of feeling displayed in these recordings of 35 years and more ago, nor has any orchestra, certainly not the CSO of Solti's day, evinced the richness and brilliance of sound found here. Above all, Reiner brought to these scores, especially Elektra, a classic grandeur of utterance, a saturated sound that overwhelms the ear without ever deafening it. Perhaps these impressions are enhanced by the superb recording, preferable to so much that passes for good sound today. The fidelity, even balance and deep sonority of this early stereo in Chicago is truly amazing. Just as arresting is the perfect placing of the voices in relation to the orchestra."

-- A.B., Gramophone [5/1993]

Also sprach Zarathustra
"Reiner's 1954 Also sprach is arguably more characteristic than his 1962 RCA remake. That is to say, it is even more intense and extrovert. In his second year with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the conductor was already getting a thrilling response from the strings, although woodwind intonation could be a problem. Confident and well played as it is, the spectacular opening sunrise inevitably lacks the impact of, say, Preyin's Telarc recording (the organ is particularly disappointing). Nor is there the dark solemnity of and detail in the bass familiar from Karajan's DO versions. What we have instead is a measure of raw passion and forward thrust unequalled on disc. In reflective passages, conductor and/or engineers display some reluctance to achieve a real pianissimo, but as the tempo builds Reiner invariably creates great excitement and the orchestral playing is marvellous."

-- David Gutman, Gramophone [12/1992]

Don Quixote, Burleske
Throughout his career Fritz Reiner showed a particular affinity for the music of Richard Strauss. Here he delivers an exceptionally vivid account of Don Quixote – each bizarre episode from the eccentric knight’s adventures is portrayed with razor-sharp insight. One notices, in particular, Reiner’s miraculous attention to detail, his unfailing grip on the structural direction of the work and the superb response from both soloist and orchestra. With its flashes of sardonic wit, the earlier Burleske makes for an excellent coupling, and illustrates Reiner’s formidable prowess as a concerto accompanist. By any standards, a self-recommending issue.

-- Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine

"These six overtures were recorded in a single day, November 22, 1958, at Orchestra Hall in Chicago. Intended originally by RCA Victor to be the stereophonic successor to Toscanini's recordings of five of the six, Reiner in this recording held to tempos in many cases a few seconds faster than Toscanini's; yet, notwithstanding, he managed to inject an element of geniality into the music absent in Toscanini's vivid thrust and forward drive. No one, however, could make The Barber of Seville Overture scintillate the way Toscanini did, be it with the New York Philharmonic or the NBC Symphony , but Reiner does bring a liquidity to the score that is quite refreshing. Reiner's The Thieving Magpie Overture and II Signor Bruschino Overture are even more successful, with sharp detail, bravura, and panache, totally exhilarating in their sparkling frothiness. Conversely, there is a decided lushness in the opening of The Silken Ladder Overture and in Reiner's approach to the Cinderella Overture that may not appeal to those who want the refined polish Karajan brought to the former or the tauter rhythms and dry finesse Abbado brought to the latter; but Reiner could, for all his discipline and precision, be a musical sybarite at times and he obviously relished this music. As if to make up for it, his opening to the William Tell Overture is more reserved, lacking the immediate plunge into darkness and mystery that characterized Toscanini's way with this music or the dramatic intensity of Leonard Bernstein in what is my preferred recording of it (but, actually, Reiner is only toying with the listener, holding back so he can finish in a flourish of brass that generates terrific excitement. The original recordings were magnificent sonically and that warmth, lushness, clarity, and vigor have been quite successfully transferred to the new format."

-- Jon Tuska, Fanfare [9/1990] Reviewing RCA 60387

This performance, recorded on November 14, 1955, was part of the four-week festival that took place at the Vienna State Opera celebrating its reopening after having been destroyed near the end of World War II. Meistersinger had long been a Viennese favorite and was performed 65 times between 1949 and 1955 at the interim Theater an der Wien. It enjoyed luxury casting and great conductors: Clemens Krauss, Rudolf Moralt, Hans Knappertsbusch, Karl Böhm, Rudolf Kempe, and Fritz Busch. For the return to the State Opera, director Karl Böhm invited the Hungarian-born Fritz Reiner, a perfectionist who in the previous 20 years had gained a reputation as one of America's finest conductors. Rehearsals, it was said, were grueling; but judging from this recording it was worth the work.

You can tell much about the entire performance from Reiner's Prelude. It is precise, grand, and detailed, with frisky, playful chattering in the upper strings underpinned by a more muscular approach in the lower strings. But it never becomes aggressive or reckless enough to smash into the opening scene; it grows into it naturally. (Where else can such a complex expression end but in prayer?) Throughout the opera we're treated to spirited tempos and playing from the Vienna Philharmonic that Reiner slows down to good effect: The Fliedermonolog is relaxed and as soft as cotton; the prelude to Act 3 wafts in the air gradually and wistfully; the quintet is a moment frozen in time and is presented with great breadth. We can feel what each character is feeling, even if a couple of them don't have the breath to express it.

Beckmesser's false "prize" song is slow to start, and so is the unease and eventual laughter of the assembled crowd. And the real "Prize Song" is accompanied lyrically, with sweep up to the high points, after which Sachs' speech about German art comes as a powerful missive. What the Viennese of 1955 thought of it, with its nasty recent memories, is anyone's guess, but the opera ends with true joy erupting, and much of it has to do with Reiner's ability to balance light and heavy, upper joy with lower gravity--a great reading.

Paul Schöffler, the possessor of a voice that never sounded young, is tonally a bit dry here but nonetheless does not present Sachs as an old man; he is vital and sure of himself. Sachs is a man who prods fate a bit, just because he can, and Schöffler sings with the assurance and potency and shading of a man of wisdom, his voice gaining in strength as the opera progresses. And his pianissimo singing is always handsome, never resorting to falsetto. His is the best Sachs on CD, bettering his own performance under Knappertsbusch on Decca.

Hans Beirer's Walther is neither as sweet and ardorous as Sandor Konya's nor as simply gorgeous as Domingo's (for Jochum on DG), and in fact he sounds indisposed. But his indisposition is only vocal, and while I realize how odd that sounds, his beautiful phrasing and shading, sincerity, vigor, and musicianship make up for a lack of grand tone and some dry singing. It's a performance impossible to dislike.

I was put off by Irmgard Seefried's Eva at first--her second act is too cutesy and pert--but she grows into the part and is lovely in the third act despite lacking anything like a trill. Gottlob Frick's Pogner is important. His address to the Masters in Act 1 has real authority and he's warm and tender with Eva in the second act. Erich Kunz sings all of Beckmesser's notes (save the silly falsetto high-A that ends his monolog in Sachs' shop) and has remarkable "face"; while we don't exactly feel sorry for him at the end, he clearly is not entirely mockable either. The David of Murray Dickie also is almost visible, and he sings with an impetuous young man's certainty, his high-Bs ringing out easily and pointedly. Rosette Anday's Magdalene is stodgy and hectoring; Eberhard Waechter's Nachtigall is mellifluous; and the other Mastersingers bark just a bit too much.

The sound is Austrian Radio mono from 1955 but sounds 10 years younger--grand and able to cope with the big climaxes, clear in the ensembles, clean in quiet moments. Aside from the Kubelik version (various labels, including Myto, Calig, Arts) with Thomas Stewart, Konya, and Gundula Janowitz, and possibly Solti's second recording (Decca) with Ben Heppner, Karita Mattila, and (small-scale but impressive) José van Dam, this set goes to the top of the list.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Antonio Janigro (1918-1989), the founder and long-term conductor of the Zagreb Soloists, which developed over time into one of the world’s best string orchestras, lives on in the memory; as an outstanding cello virtuoso he set benchmarks with his recordings. He began his studies at the conservatoire in his native city of Milan. Pablo Casals recommended he then go to Paris, where in subsequent years he won six national and international prizes, and where, in 1933, his worldwide career was to begin. After the end of the Second World War Janigro went on to study orchestral direction, and made his debut as a conductor in 1948. In 1954 he founded the Zagreb Soloists, whose reputation grew at such a mercurial pace that the ensemble was given permission, even at the height of the Cold War, to perform on international stages. Janigro was also conductor of the Radio Zagreb Symphony Orchestra (1954-64) and of the Orchestra Dell’Angelicum di Milano. As successor to Karl Ristenpart he headed the Chamber Orchestra of Saarland Radio. He taught at the music universities of Düsseldorf and Stuttgart and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and was conductor of that institution’s Camerata. Antonio Janigro compiled a wide repertoire both as a soloist and with the Zagreb Soloists, encompassing works by Vivaldi, Corelli and Boccherini as well as the great works of the Viennese Classical School by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven through to Brahms. He simultaneously ensured that works by contemporary composers were well represented in his concert programmes and as a result premiered some very interesting works by the likes of Krzysztof Penderecki, György Ligeti and Milko Kelemen, who was involved in this very collection, both as composer and arranger.

Drawn from the worldwide catalog holdings of Sony Classical, which includes both the Columbia/CBS and RCA Victor label imprints, the SONY Classical Originals, SONY Classical Masters Singles and Box Sets, SONY Opera and Opera House series offer an extensive selection of highly desirable and collectible pressed import editions, smartly-designed and graphically-pleasing, featuring the most sought after recordings by the world's preeminent, legendary artists both past and present, with many titles newly re-mastered in 24bit High Resolution Audio.