Fritz Reiner Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade 180g LP

TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Classical

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RCA Living Stereo Classical LPs - The Gold Standard for Top Quality Orchestral Performance and Sound!

The jewel in the Living Stereo crown. Enchantment awaits within! Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony convey the listener on a magic carpet of Living Stereo sound to mythic Arabia and China, guided by two of Russia's greatest orchestral masters.

This, like the Respighi, is considered one of the very best recordings by Reiner, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and RCA's crew. A disc of supple and sensuous performances, the sound alternately shimmers and stuns with the clarity of its definition and intensity of its climaxes.

Reiner's reading of Scheherazade is the pinnacle of grace, precision, delicacy, and drama, and it's no wonder it commands the highest prices in the market for used shaded dogs. The late Harry Pearson once told me that he could learn anything he needed to know about an audio component by playing the final movement of this recording... At times, the background is so silent I have to do a double take to verify that the needle is still in the groove and the platter is still turning.

...The second movement is just ravishing in the beauty of the Chicago's playing and Reiner's romantic approach; there is some staccato triple-tonguing done by trumpeter Adolph Herseth in the fourth movement that should leave you, if not him, breathless. But let it just be said that, after you hear this, no other Scheherazade will ever replace it in your affections.

This ravishing beauty, originally released in 1960 or fifty three years ago, has been a long-time audiophile classic. It's also considering to be among the finest if not the finest performance on record or any other format... Both the music and the sound are transportive, making this easy to recommend even if you think you don't like 'classical' music. If you're looking for a way 'in' here it is!