He was a conductor born Frederick Martin Reiner in Budapest, Hungary. He initially studied law at the wish of his father, but he moved schools to the Franz Liszt Academy music to study piano with teachers that included Bela Bartok, 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 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 – Fritz Reiner
Colas Breugnon Overture (Dmitri Kabalevsky)
RCA 5602 (CD: Tchaikovsky “Pathetique” Symphony)
Conductor – Fritz Reiner
RCA 82876 61394-2 (CD: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; A Night on Bald Mountain)
Conductor – Fritz Reiner
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