Reiner's Lt. Kije is Fantastic!
Karl W. Nehring | Ostrander, OH USA | 07/08/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I have a real aversion to recommending CDs that cost $30+, but I love the Chicago Symphony/Fritz Reiner recordings. So--what do I have to say about this release from JVC? Wow!! Slap down your money (if you love Reiner)! Ya gotta have it!!
The reason that I am nuts about this recording is the Lieutenant Kijé Suite, which is one of my all-time favorite classical recordings. There just aren't too many better ways to spend 20 minutes than listening to this fantastic music on a good stereo. The variety of sounds, the variety of moods, the variety of expression, and the variety of dynamics somehow cohere in a unified musical portrait that you will want to return to over and over again. Reiner and the Chicago and the engineers outdid themselves in the service of Maestro Prokofieff; I have never heard a finer recording of this magical work.
And although it is not as immediately musically appealing, Stravinsky's Song of the Nightingale is a worthy discmate, one that may well come to grow on you as you play this CD over and over again to hear the Prokofieff. JVC has released some splendid recordings in their series of remasters, but at least for me, this is the all-time best, and I recommend it without reservation, even at $30+ (ouch!) bucks. It is worth every penny and more -- if you are Reiner/Lt. Kije fanatic, that is."