Fritz Reiner

 

 

The more I listen to recordings conducted by Fritz Reiner the higher is my estimation of him. Doubtless he was capable of being a monster at times and the very epitome of the word martinet but these qualities were not the only ones in his makeup and were not exclusive to him. 

Not much has been written about his more human side but it must have existed. He led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in many highly successful tours and had very cordial relations with them following particularly successful performances for example, cmplimenting them on their playing.  

Nonetheless there is a story concerning the great Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer who had deplored the fact there was no memorial to Reiner in Budapest or anywhere else in Hungary, In his efforts to raise money for the commissioning of a statue or bust, he thought to gather together such members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra who had played under Reiner in their youth while he was in Chicago conducting the orchestra.

The small group of old-timers duly accepted his invitation without kknowing what the purpose of it might have been. After an explanation had been made, there was silence. On elderly man stood up and said

'That man ruined my life and ruined my family's life. A memorial to him is the last thing I would support.' 

Or words to that effect. 

There is a more famous story worth repeating in case there is anyone who hasn;t heard it yet:

Reiner was rehearsing the CSO and gradually became aware a double bassist was looking at him through binoculars.  'What are you doing?' asked Reiner.

Well maetsro, your beat is very small so I am using binoculars to see it.

Reiner took out a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote something on it. 'Can you see that?' he asked.

It said 'You're fired.' Apprently he wasn't joking.

There are quite a few recordings of Reiner. They are all interesting. One which I find interesting for the wrong reasons is a 'Falstaff' from the Met. It is quite horribly Germanic which is really not a good thing in that great work. At the other extreme, just listen to his Schubert 9th. It is revelatory.