# 100 Favorites: # 70



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

*Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale
Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra (RCA Living Stereo)*










As I've mentioned before, I'm a bit of a _Scheherazade_ nut. I've collected more than a dozen versions, and several of them are eminently recommendable -- particularly Stokowski/LSO and Scherchen/VSOO. But if I were forced to pick just one recording, I'd reach for Reiner and the Chicagoans. The CSO performs with awesome power, and their seemingly limitless virtuosity makes for a HUGE, imposing interpretation. If Reiner's account was a film, it would definitely be IMAX; everything about it seems larger than life. But I shouldn't give the impression that this reading is brawny but brainless. Reiner elicits the delicate, feminine qualities in the music -- and the voluptuous, sexy ones as well.

The coupling, Stravinsky's _Song of the Nightingale_, is an apt pairing. Reiner does an excellent job of capturing Stravinsky's colors, which seem astringent compared to Rimsky-Korsakov's more saturated palette.


----------

