Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale [Hybrid SACD]
![Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale [Hybrid SACD]](/images/Rimsky-Korsakov-Scheherazade-Stravinsky-Song-of-the-Nightingale-Hybrid-SACD-B0006PV5VC-L.jpg)
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.02 You Save: $1.93 (19%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $6.79 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale [Hybrid SACD]
Free Music Review: Historic -- the best Scheherazade ever! Details follow...
Hit: 5 Stars
Scheherazade is performed a LOT. Fritz Reiner was well-aware of this fact in 1960 when he conceived this historic recording. As a consequence, he fostered no desire to yield just another run-of-the-mill performance. Here's a blurp from the notes which explains his subsequent efforts more fully:
"Some weeks before the actual recording was made, most of the existing recordings of the music were studied, re-studied, judged and re-judged. The best were very good, but short of that perfection for which all mortals strive. One version reveled in buttery sound and not always accurate execution; another proferred razor-sharp execution and equally ear-rending decibel content; still a third beckoned you from afar with a 'concert-hall' pickup, and so it went. To capture the Arabian temptress in all her glittering changes was not a simple task...
Once each of the facets of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was heard [referring to the lengthy orchestra practice sessions], music making was in order. During the morning session the first two movements were recorded, the last two during the afternoon period. Throughout the six hours required, there was constant exhortation by Dr. Reiner to the men in the orchestra 'to play with glow, not perspiration'. The performance had to be supple and sensuous, the sound alternately to shimmer and stun, with clarity in its definition, sonority and intensity in its climaxes."
Folks, this is about as perfect as it's ever going to get.
Just to follow up, the 1956 recording of Stravinsky's "Song of the Nightingale" is also quite good and is a piece that, in this level of quality, isn't all that easy to find. And it's also a perfect second, complementary piece to Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade".
This is an ADD recording/CD.
A must-have for collectors and a superb choice for all others.
Free Music Review: Absolutely Amazing!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Back in the early 40's, the first vinyl my mom provided for me was a recording of Scheherezade. I played it so often and heard it elsewhere so frequently after that that it almost began to sound trite to me - ignorant slob that I am! I never replaced it in my collection because of that fact. Still, after reading all the outstanding reviews by Hurwitz, Levine et al, I decided to add this version recently. Am I ever glad that I did! I am not one who often stoops to superlatives, but this CD can only be described as magnificent, spectacular!! I have always been a fan of that genius, Fritz Reiner, and his interpretation of Scheherezade is fantastic! The CSO under his direction delivers a version so good that it is like hearing it again for the first time! Every note, every instrument is heard as R-K originally planned it, I'm sure.
Not only is the directing and playing magnificent, but the sound is almost beyond belief - especially considering that it was originally recorded in the 50's when I was still just a youngster and all recorded classical music sounded like it was run through a meat grinder. The engineers did a marvelous job on this recording. It even sounds spectacular on my limited two-speaker stereo system.
I don't mean to belittle Song of the Nightingale by any stretch of the imagination. It too is presented in a new and glorious light by Reiner and the CSO. It is just that I am overwhelmed by their rendition of Scheherezade.I now play this disc frequently just as I did when I was five years old, but I enjoy it even more.
I can't recommend this CD too highly. Buy it while it is still a steal and on the market. Not only will you never regret it, but you will be sorry if you don't!!
Free Music Review: Better than ever!
Hit: 5 Stars
What a treat for the ears!
The Living Stereo series was wonderful then and it's even better now. This hybrid SACD has fantastic sound quality and, thankfully, is completely true to both music and the original recording. Originally recorded in "3 channel stereo" that's what you get here--no, there's nothing in the rear channels of the surround mix but that's exactly the way it should be. Taken directly from the nearly 50-year old (!) masters, the engineers did nothing at all to the sound except digitize and transfer each track to the SACD/CD master. Nothing added, nothing subtracted. And the quality of those masters is astounding--clear, bright and full. No tape hiss. No loss of highs. Just wonderful music expertly performed.
Dissapointed you're only getting 3 channels and not 5-7? Don't be. You'll hear musicians across the broad but shallow Chicago Symphony Hall just as the engineers heard them in the recording sessions in 1960 and 1956. And those musicians are superb, particularly to my ears, on the Sheherazade portion. This is an excellent orchestra caught at its prime resulting in a truly world-class performance of this well known and well loved music.
In short, get this CD! Even if you don't have a universal player now, the 2 channel transfer is equally good, a faithful recreation of a classic LP. And if you can play the SACD layer so much the better because for the first time you'll hear exactly what was recorded and what the engineers heard in nearly 50 years ago.
Free Music Review: My favorite CD before I lost it in a fire evacuation
Hit: 5 Stars
Gaaaaah!
I loved this CD. For me it is even better than the Reiner Pictures at an Exhibition recording, which says quite a bit. Scheherezade is masterfully written, and is by far my favorite piece by Rimsky-Korsakov, especially the middle two movements. Every single one of the four movements are far beyond the standard musical performance however, and I highly recommend listening to all four over and over again.
My crackpot theory I developed from the Wikipedia article about the composer is that Rimsky-Korsakov had help from his wife when writing this piece, as it is an excellent synthesis of a variety of musical styles, not just the conservative Russian style found in many of Rimsky-Korsakov's other works, and the end product in this CD is life-changing, at least for me it was.
The Stravinsky piece is also nice, although this piece is in the opposite situation as Scherezade, as I find that some other pieces by Stravinsky are a bit easier to understand for those who mostly listen to older musical styles. Contemporary music is undeniably important however, and I highly recommend this recording as it is well performed and is not as well known as some of Stravinsky's other works.
Free Music Review: Classic Treasure
Hit: 5 Stars
Conductor Fritz Reiner beautifully captures the fragrant aromas of Rimsky-Korsakov's exotic orchestrations with great poetry and sensitivity and just the right touches of elegance and flair from concertmaster Sidney Harth and the Chicago Symphony to make this one of the greatest performances ever. I am always stirred by the trumpet player's tonguing technique here and the driving, onward pace of the final movement of Scheherazade. The Stravinsky is also a marvel to hear, one of the thrilling and colorful works that display the composer's indebtedness to his wonderful composition teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov. The mastering in this edition is spectacular in SACD and all three specialized formats and the compatibility all in one disk is extraordinary.