Fritz Reiner - Rarities, Volume 1 (1950-53) [2010]

Real 1950s rarities from Fritz Reiner

This collection features rarities in more than one sense. First, these are Fritz Reiner’s only commercial recordings of the works, save Totentanz and the “Waltz of the Flowers.” In addition, none of them have received an “official” reissue from RCA, on LP or CD, in over half a century.

The Mendelssohn comes from a week in June, 1951 in which Reiner conducted a series of concerts at the Robin Hood Dell in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. RCA made three recordings with him at this time: the Brahms Double Concerto with Milstein and Piatigorsky; Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody with Kapell; and the present work. The orchestra was composed primarily of members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, but its name was not a contractual nom du disque. The ensemble performed under this name in their summer home well into the 1960s, and recorded under it for both RCA and Columbia.

The remaining items were made with RCA’s pickup orchestra, composed mainly of members of the New York Philharmonic and the NBC Symphony with the addition of some freelance players. (Essentially, it was the same ensemble heard in the recordings of “Leopold Stokowski and His Symphony Orchestra.”) The Gluck has an interesting history. Originally, it was released on a 45 rpm disc, coupled with the Air from Bach’s Suite No. 3, from Reiner’s complete set of Bach Suites. It was later reissued on a compilation album called “Enter the Ballet” (LM-2141), which was the source of the present transfer. The soloist, not identified on the LP, is most likely Julius Baker, who was also featured on Reiner’s recording of the Bach Second Suite that same year.

The Liszt features the Russian-American pianist, Alexander Brailowsky, who was a frequent visitor to the RCA studios during the 1940s and 1950s. The work would later be re-recorded by Reiner in Chicago with Byron Janis. The Tchaikovsky waltzes were begun the day after Reiner recorded the Fledermaus highlights album (Pristine Audio PACO 037), which was his first session for RCA after leaving Columbia. These have been transferred from 45 rpm originals (set WDM-1539), while the remaining items have come from LPs: the Mendelssohn from its 12-inch reissue on LM-1724 (with some patches from the 45 rpm set to fix problems in RCA’s LP master tape), and the Liszt and Gluck from their only LP appearances.


Tracks:

MENDELSSOHN A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Incidental Music
GLUCK Orfeo ed Euridice – Dance of the Blessed Spirits
LISZT Totentanz
TCHAIKOVSKY Waltzes

Personnel:

Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia
RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Fritz Reiner