Reiner, Fritz (19th December 1888-15th November 1963
He was born Frederick Martin Reiner
in Budapest, Hungary.He initially studied law at the wish
of his father, but he moved schools to the FranzLisztAcademy
music to study piano with teachers that included BelaBartok, piano pedagogy and composition.After he began conducting his
early
work was done with Richard
Strauss and at the opera houses in Dresden
and Budapest.In 1922 he emigrated
to the Unites States in 1922 and became the Principal Conductor of the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and remained there until 1931 when he began
to teach students that included Leonard Bernstein and Lukas Foss at the
Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.He was known for his
interpretations of Bach and Strauss and was a recognised admirer of the
music of Mozart above all.He
performed with several orchestras through the course of his career
including Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where he spent the last
10 years of his life as the music director, and his last recording was for
a boxed set of Brahms' works with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.Said to be "a notoriously
difficult personality who frequently alienated those around him" he
was often unpopular by the musicians who worked under him, but they often
gave the best work they had ever done.He died in New
York in 1963 as a result of deteriorated health
from a major heart attack he suffered in 1960.He was 74 years old.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra recordings
Fete-Dieu a Seville (Isaac Albeniz)
RCA 09026 62586 - 2 (CD: Spain)
Conductor - FritzReiner
Colas Breugnon Overture
(DmitriKabalevsky)
RCA 5602 (CD:Tchaikovsky
“Pathetique” Symphony)
Conductor – Fritz Reiner
RCA 82876 61394-2 (CD:Mussorgsky:Pictures at an Exhibition; A Night
on Bald Mountain)
