# identify recording of Also Sprach Zarathustra



## xristy (Sep 9, 2010)

Hello,

I'm trying to identify a recording from decades ago of Also Sprach Zarathustra. I think it was from the 50s on RCA. The key characteristic of the recording was that in Sunrise at the crescendo there emerges out of raw power the crystal clear sound of a triangle. I recall it as magical and moving and lately thought I'd try and find it on the internet but the various recordings that I've listened to just don't seem to have that triangle. I thought it might have been Fritz Reiner at Chicago but the recordings that I found at Amazon (Richard Strauss in High Fidelity) and one at iTunes on an album including Eroica do not have the quality that I remember - I have seen mention that there are two "great" recordings that Reiner made and I don't know if either of the ones that I tried (I also tried von Karajan and Mheta but they don't seem to be it either) are one of the great recordings. I don't know if it was Reiner. I recall the album cover as a kind a dark abstract cover with reds and blues.

I suspect this is a kind of silly post but I thought I try any way.

Thanks in advance,
Xristy


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

I would be surprised if the Reiner recording didn't come up to muster. Always a remarkable recording for its vintage, it has been remastered and almost sounds as if it was recorded last week. 

The only other truly 'classic' recording I can think of it might be would be Karl Böhm and the Vienna Phil on Deutsche Grammophon.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

xristy said:


> I thought it might have been Fritz Reiner at Chicago but the recordings that I found at Amazon (Richard Strauss in High Fidelity) and one at iTunes on an album including Eroica do not have the quality that I remember -


First question... did the two recordings you sampled seem like the _same_ recording?


xristy said:


> I have seen mention that there are two "great" recordings that Reiner made and I don't know if either of the ones that I tried... are one of the great recordings.


Reiner recorded _Also Sprach Zarathustra_ twice- once in 1954, and again in 1962. A thumbnail perusal of my review texts indicates that the 1954 recording is the better-regarded of the two.

Good luck with your quest...


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Hi,

did you try using the google picures function ?

Among the "Reiner - Zarathustra" results, 
a cover similar to your description comes up, cf.

http://store.acousticsounds.com

Joen


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## xristy (Sep 9, 2010)

joen_cph: you are right about the cover being similar to my description. Thank you for pointing out the utility of images.google.com for the task. I was being slow. In any event using google I was able to identify precisely the album cover: JMCXR-0011 - Also Sprach Zarathustra Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony. Not really similar to my verbal description but once I saw it I knew it.

chiTown_philly: Thank you for the reply. I listened and both the recordings are the same. The recording that I link to above has a track time of 1:51 for Sunrise versus 1:30 for the two in my original post. The note at the link site says that the recording was made in 1954 and remade by engineers Layton and Mohr in 1962. I remember getting this on vinyl in 1970/1 as an example of an extreme test of high-end audio equipment. The thing that has always struck me about the performance is the way the triangle at the crescendo is nestled in the surrounding sound - something I have never heard on any other recording.

Thank you all.


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