Claude Debussy - Iberia [Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra]

[@AdamPalatine]

I have this on vinyl. It's a fantastic thing to hold and look at - and to spin! What a magnificent recording and sound quality. Just awesome.

[@theresaheidel9878]

Crystal clear sounds, crisp, driving rhythms and evocative of an Iberian landscape. I can imagine being there through this exotic music.

[@shin-i-chikozima]

This invites me into the exotic ,passionate and comfortable world

[@discurio]

This is a RCA-Victor Living Stereo Shaded Dog Label LP Deep Grooved Stampers 3S/1S produced in the in scant period, roughly from 1958 to 1963, the beginning of the stereo era - pure Valve amplification helped produce recordings demonstrating unparalleled fidelity and warmth, lifelike presence and midband illumination.

Misteriosamente mágica... Es una hipnosis continua

[@stevenj9970]

Reiner/CSO. Hard to beat THAT combo…

[@markharris1223]

Having just one functioning ear I live in a monaural world, so talk of space and position is lost on me. However, I still derive great pleasure from listening to this particular recording. I have always found the image on the record sleeve absolutely enchanting. A blissful, captured moment.

[@AdamPalatine]

This is just a fantastic recording. Thank you Maestro Reiner and the CSO of old.

[@davidrehak3539]

Claude Debussy:Ibéria 1. Az utcákon és az utakon 00:00 2. Az éjszaka illata 06:49 3.Ünnepnap reggele 15:43 Chicagói Szimfonikus Zenekar Vezényel:Reiner Frigyes

[@josemanuelbreafeijoo1156]

Impresionante interpretación, plena de sutileza y ardor interpretativo. Grabación histórica, difícil de igualar.

[@richardwilliams473]

The stereo sound is nice an expansive !!!!

[@bigcedock]

My ideal of how an orchestra ought to sound. Reiner a tyrant? Perhaps, but what a legacy in sound we have to still enjoy so many years on. Thanks.

[@marvieachanzar4674]

Hi Anacort, I am sure you must have listened to "SCHEHERAZADE" recorded at the Orchestra Hall, Chicago in 1964. Fritz Reiner / CSO which is the most definitive conducting. Tyranny then, must be one of the main ingredients to any masterpiece.

[@bigcedock]

Thanks for your comment - Scheherezade is not one of my favorites.

[@tamcon72]

I have heard many recordings of this work, but never this one. It features so many little nuances amid the bold sounds of the score, that it really puts one aurally in the midst of the scenes being musically described. It is like no other rendering of these _Images_ . This one is now my favorite. Thanks for posting it!

[@marvieachanzar4674]

Hey Tamcon72, very precise and accurately said; I totally agree. I profoundly discern your acuity to those subtle nuances that only Fritz Reiner can impose on each musician of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra such audiophile sound qualities that capture the inner soul of the listener - us music lover. GREETINGS from Chicago.......marvie7244

[@tamcon72]

@@marvieachanzar4674 I send a cheery wave from chilly Detroit in return : )

[@JuandeEscalada]

Me estoy dando una vuelta sobre temas españoles en la música clásica.

[@MegaCirse]

Claude Debussy était beauté, message, violence et rêve, mais surtout l'instrument puissant d'une volonté formidable. Ce compositeur exceptionnel disait "Je veux" quand beaucoup d’autres marmonnaient "je voudrais" Il a atteint son but sans se plier à la plus infime compromission, comme une charrue accrochée à une étoile. Une fois pour toutes, il traçait leur chemin et ne s'en écartait jamais, refusant toute flagornerie qui fait de la musique populaire d'aujourd'hui une lasse prostituée¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@marvieachanzar4674]

Well said !! marvie & Patek

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

This is the only recording I've heard of the Iberia that seriously challenges Leopold Stokowski's version, recorded the very same year (1958) for Capitol/EMI. 1958 was the year of the battle of the stereo conducting giants, apparently. This one is just as exotic in its own way, particularly in the delineation of detail which is even better than Stoki's and nearly as atmospheric. Stoki has that breathless sense of urgency and that incomparable glistening sheen, but Reiner's attention to detail evokes just as much mystery, and it sounds so effortless. It may have sounded effortless because Reiner was such a fearsome tyrant on the podium. I appreciate the other Debussy/Ravel recordings you've posted in this set as well. The Valses Nobles... of Ravel is ferocious. There, I think Reiner has no competition.

[@robertpalmer1435]

+kevin r. As one who heard both Reiner (many, many times) and Stokowski both conduct the CSO I can tell you there was no contest. Under Reiner it was all clarity, transparency, precision, virtuosity. Stoki let the orchestra play as loud as they wanted resulting in a smeared sound with no deliniation. The recorded performances sounded very exciting but in no way compared to anything Reiner ever did.

[@obiwan88]

@@robertpalmer1435 Agreed. As an orchestra musician I definitely go for Reiner's version, Stoki's version is quite rushed and messy, artistically not even close by comparison, different class.This version is so exemplary even modern recordings cannot match it's level.

[@stravinskyfan]

@@obiwan88 agreed, this recording captures everything.

[@wab4100]

es gibt einfach musikstücke, bei deren interpretation fritz reiner fast unschlagbar ist. iberia gehört dazu!

[@Receng55]

A 60 year old recording that sounds amazing! As a recording engineer, and trumpet player, I would have loved to be there when it was recorded. How many microphones, what kind, where they were placed...? I have a few LPs of CSO with Reiner conducting, 1812 Overture for one.

[@lachlanc.3509]

Yes. Still the gold standard for stereo orchestra recordings! I believe 3 microphones (presumably tube) placed over each section of the orchestra. The far left and right microphones are used to give a wide stereo effect and the third central microphone can be adjust to fill in the middle.

[@marvieachanzar4674]

I am a vinyl collector of RCA Living Stereo - Shaded Dog [His Master's Voice logo] LSC series. Usually, when the recording venue was at the Orchestra Hall in Chicago, producer Richard Mohr and recording engineer Lewis Layton used a maximum of three condenser microphones positioned optimally above the strings section (one left & one right and one in the middle to capture the the entire orchestra recorded by a 3-Tract Vacuum tube Ampex Recorder then mixed and mastered to 2 Tract Master tape to balance the sound stage imaging and depth for a holographic presentation; termed the RCA Orthophonic sound - Living Stereo. Mikes used was either the iconic Telefunkens or Neumanns ; Omnidirectional. Electrets for smaller ensembles depending on the recording site. Correct me if I'm wrong

[@fueledbylove]

@@marvieachanzar4674 you are correct, until they later decided to employ multiple mics, it was a mistake just as RCA Dynagroove records destroyed the original Living Stereo brilliance and soundstage of the recordings. But most people's systems were not good enough so few noticed the difference back then.

[@leonvanderschaaf9378]

5:05 tourettes guy

[@mistywalters]

Was it a trend to record only Iberia part back then ?

[@michaelscribe4827]

Clarinet one !

[@blueberrypitbull87]

Who else is coming here from the Tourette's Guy?

[@versacemoonbeam]

4:58

[@lagloriet]

May I suggest (if you don't know it) you listen Pierre Monteux (with LSO and also with an american orch. San Francisco ?).

[@marvieachanzar4674]

Pierre Monteux conducting the CSO (without rehearsal) once said before recording Cesar Franck's Symphony in D minor :" Don't get nervous; JUST PLAY ! " This RCA recording is excellent in terms of sound quality; one of the best performance of Franck's Symphony in D. My only dilemma is that the conductor rearranged first and second violins; moved them to his right, then moved the cello and double bass to his left. He must be a "South Paw" from faraway France and a Great Conductor !!! PS: I had fun listening behind those two speakers😏