--- product_id: 221069423 title: "Complete Columbia Collection" brand: "fritz reiner" price: "₹ 13869" currency: INR in_stock: true reviews_count: 7 url: https://www.desertcart.in/products/221069423-complete-columbia-collection store_origin: IN region: India --- # Complete Columbia Collection **Brand:** fritz reiner **Price:** ₹ 13869 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Complete Columbia Collection by fritz reiner - **How much does it cost?** ₹ 13869 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.in](https://www.desertcart.in/products/221069423-complete-columbia-collection) ## Best For - fritz reiner enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted fritz reiner brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Complete Columbia Collection ## Images ![Complete Columbia Collection - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/716OUB3KaML.jpg) ![Complete Columbia Collection - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91HfJmljXrL.jpg) ![Complete Columbia Collection - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91TaSBVIgJL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Once-Dissenting Voice Amidst The Reiner Adulation Finally Won Over *by M***S on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 16, 2015* My first encounter with a Fritz Reiner recording was his Brahms 4 on Readers Digest LP (later on Chesky CD), which I first heard while in high school. I thought it was fabulous, an opinion I hold to this day, some 40-plus years later.Over the decades, I have not been similarly enamored of his other recordings. Try as I have, I have never understood the overboard Reiner worship among record collectors. Why was that? Let me give some general impressions:1. Many of these vaunted RCA Living Stereo recordings just aren't that great sound-wise compared to what has evolved over the decades since they were set down. They can lack depth. They can lack sparkle. Yet many of the discs are just fine to spectacular. My experience is that with Reiner's Chicago recordings, it's hit and miss.2. The Chicago Symphony under Reiner isn't always the technical powerhouse of received opinion. Yes, they're good, very good. But they're not consistently exceptional, at least to my ears. I don't see them on the same level as, say, Szell's Clevelanders, Ormandy's Philadelphians or Karajan's BPO. But when they're good, they're hard to beat.3. Reiner's interpretations: they can tend towards being one dimensional. Sometimes, they're curt and in your face. Not always, but often enough. At other times, they're surprisingly wayward. If that's your cup of tea, have at it, but it's not my cup of tea.Against my opinion stands an apparent universe of received opinion that Reiner is the tops. That the recordings contained in this box are unparalleled. That every record collector needs these recordings in their collection. So every couple of years, I make a concerted effort to reevaluate Reiner, an opportunity I couldn't pass up when Amazon offered this box set for $118 in December, 2014.And I have to report that at this late stage of the game (I'm 60), and after 40+ years of concerted listening - and after immersing myself in this box set - I have been largely won over to the Reiner way.A few specifics: I started with CD 1 in the set, the famous 1954 "good" version of "Also sprach Zarathustra." What can I say? I have never understood the adulation for this recording and I still don't get it. Karajan does it much better (and consistently better), as do Kempe and a host of others. The sound is fairly harsh and in your face. I then listened to Reiner's 1962 remake of AsZ. Surprise! I liked it much better than the 50s version. How could that be? Well, the recorded sound is more blended and more lifelike, smoother and less edgy, and the orchestral execution is stronger. I found Reiner's early "Dance of the 7 Veils" to be excellent, a real keeper. His "Heldenleben?" Well played and recorded, but I can't think of a less-sensual version. More Richard Strauss? Others do it better. More sensual. More heroic. More textured and colorful than Reiner. I'm starting to realize that my lack of appreciation for Reiner over the years has been based largely on people claiming that his Richard Strauss is the tops, when my ears were and are telling me something else.The fabled Bartok Concerto recording again failed to impress me. I honestly can't place it in my top 10, and heaven knows I've tried. And yet I find his recording of the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta to be exceptional. His take on Stravinky's "Fairy Kiss" Divertimento is a delight, even if I can't take the coupled recording seriously as a piece of music (Hovhannes "Mysterious Mountain").The Rach 2 with Rubinstein is a gem. Ditto that for the Paganini Rhapsody, in spite of the recorded sound, which is subpar. His "Pictures" is exceptional - one of the best available, and in stunning sound, to boot. His "Pines" and "Fountains" sound like they were recorded yesterday. Fabulous! His disc of Rossini overtures is desert island fare.I'm also realizing that other Reiner recordings that have been held up to me as good examples of why he is so adored really aren't very good examples after all. Take the mono Eroica - what a disappointment! The first movement is overly aggressive and monochromatic to boot. Clipped phrasing masquerades as precise execution. Reiner has the violins add a very provincial-sounding crescendo to their ascending passages (bar 630, etc) as they go over the top of their phrases, a crescendo that appears nowhere in Beethoven's score and that needs no more emphasis than is supplied by the range and speed on the notes on their face. I don't have any problem with a few interpretive choices here and there that show up as small ritardandi, or certain instruments begin brought to the fore. But overall, the first movement is pretty much the definition of cut-and-dried. The slow movement lacks depth, the Scherzo is too fast - with a pretty mediocre rendition of the horn calls in the trio - while the Finale is as monochromatic as was the opening.The Beethoven 5 - another supposed Reiner gem - features very good recorded sound, one of the more-realistic sounding CDs in the set. The performance itself is another story. Anyone looking for Szell-like clarity in articulation will be disappointed. The first movement is a study in tempo manipulation that works if you like that kind of thing. A less-charitable view would be to note an inability to maintain a steady tempo throughout and to give the orchestra a long leash, allowing them to speed up at the obvious places where one would normally rein them in. The second movement is played quite beautifully, and I would have enjoyed it even more had there been a bit more of a tenuto feel to much of the sustained playing. The third movement is well textured and quite enjoyable, even with all of the small censurae in the licks for the double basses. The French horn sound here and in the first movement is a bit boxy for my taste. The Finale fairly erupts in a surge of brass-led bravura, with the movement despatched in very fine form (sans repeat), though - again - I would prefer a steadier tempo throughout. The CD closes with an energetic performance of Corliolan Overture. The whole thing is enjoyable, but not what I'd consider to be essential.Worst is Reiner's Beethoven 9th. I am really surprised at the rave reviews this recording has received elsewhere on amazon. Moments of surprising imprecision mix with whole sections of musical stagnation. Reiner pulls tempi around in a way that would be highly criticized were the name Maazel or Mehta emblazoned across the CD cover. The vocal soloists are weak and the choir is mic-ed in a way that only the sopranos are heard clearly. I must say that I was totally unprepared for the disappointment I felt in hearing this recording. The 9th is coupled with the 1st in this set - I can't recall a less-stylish or formless version of the First than is presented here. I was starting to think that Reiner simply missed the boat when it came to Beethoven...but then his version of the 6th is the exception that proves the rule - a middle-of-the-road version that is played and recorded quite well.Reiner's Johann Strauss is a different story. While not as echt-Viennese as one gets from the typical Vienna Phil rendition, it IS stylish, rather than indulgent. The highly colorful recorded sound on the 1960 recordings (CD 49) is demonstration quality as well, at least for the era. Ditto the earlier "Vienna" disc (LSC 2112, CD 16) from 1957. These discs are winning me over, but I can't say that they're what I normally expect from Reiner. Maybe that's why they're winning me over!His Haydn is fearlessly big band and Romantic. Too bad he didn't record more. His Schubert 5 & 8 are quite enjoyable, even shorn of their first-movement repeats, though other conductors present more-stylish accounts. His Brahms Third is better than I remember from the old Dynagroove-era LP issue I owned back in the day.And I must say that the recordings featuring both Heifetz and Cliburn are absolutely top-drawer. One would be hard pressed to find more obvious examples of prodigious musical talent combining into a sum that is much greater than its already exceptional parts.So, my opinion of Reiner has been changed by the experience. I'll continue to work my way through this beautifully produced set, if slowly. Quite honestly, the earliest recordings in this set can be aurally tiring to listen to. But then along comes a CD like the 1960 Johann Strauss or the "Pictures" mentioned above, and I begin to "get" what Reiner is all about. I can see myself returning to these Johann Strauss recordings in the future. I can't say that about his Beethoven or the 1954 "Also sprach."This set has had the effect of raising my appreciation of Fritz Reiner, even as I'm a bit surprised at which particular recordings in the set are responsible for said increase in appreciation.Four stars. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ CONTENTS LIST *by J***R on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 16, 2020* I am quite happy with this new box of Fritz Reiner’s early recordings for Columbia Masterworks, but I’d be happier still if Sony hadn’t deleted their box of Reiner’s late, mostly stereo recordings for RCA (Sony owns both Columbia and RCA).Maybe we can hope for a reissue.Approximately half of these mono recordings with the Pittsburgh Symphony were remade ten years later in stereo with the Chicago Symphony.The interpretations are basically unchanged, but the later recordings are better played and better recorded (RCA Living Stereo).This still leaves quite a few works that are unique to Reiner’s discography: Bach Brandenburg Concerti, Beethoven Symphony 2, Mozart Symphony 35, Shostakovich Symphony 6.Plus some Broadway music from Gershwin and Richard Rogers that I would never associate with Fritz Reiner.Fourteen CDs in “original jackets” with original program notes + 64 page booklet.New 24-bit transfers from Sony’s engineering team (see photo).There is a serious error in the booklet.The writer claims that Reiner’s 1946 Pittsburgh recording of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra (the first ever) uses the rarely heard original ending from 1944.But Reiner clearly uses the standard revised ending that Bartók composed shortly before his death (September 26, 1945).The revision adds about 15 seconds to the end of the fifth movement.You can hear the original finale on a 1944 aircheck of Koussevitzky/Boston Symphony (on Guild or Naxos CD or YouTube).Leon Botstein/London Philharmonic recorded both finales on a Telarc CD.Most of the Pittsburgh recordings were made in the Syria Mosque (no connection to Islam), a 3700 seat auditorium built by Shriners.The Shriners were founded by Freemasons in 1870.They operate children’s hospitals, send out adorable Love to the Rescue blankets, and drive tiny cars while wearing red fezzes.The booklet calls Shriners a “sect”.The Syria Mosque was demolished in 1991.Shriners also built the 4200 seat Medinah Temple in Chicago (I went to the circus there as a child).It still stands, but has been converted to retail space.MONO RECORDINGS WITH THE PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY unless otherwise indicated.Recordings with an asterisk were re-recorded in stereo with the Chicago Symphony or Vienna Philharmonic (exception: the Mozart Symphony 40 remake was mono).BACH:--- Brandenburg ConcertI (6) with Columbia String Ensemble - soloists are mostly from the New York Philharmonic (1949)--- Suite for Orchestra no 2 BWV 1067 (1946)--- Fugue in G minor BWV 578 "Little” orch. Cailliet (1946)BARTOK:--- Concerto for Orchestra (1946) * (revised version in both recordings)--- Hungarian Sketches No. 2, 4 (1947) * (Reiner recorded all five sketches in Chicago)BEETHOVEN:--- Symphony No.2 (1945)BERLIOZ:--- La damnation de Faust: Rákóczy March (1947)BRAHMS:--- Concerto for Piano No.1 with Rudolf Serkin (1946) * (re-recorded with Arthur Rubinstein in Chicago)--- Hungarian Dances No.1, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 19, 21 (1946) * (re-recorded for Decca with Vienna Philharmonic)DEBUSSY:--- Ibéria from Images (1947) *--- Danse (Tarentelle styrienne) (1947)FALLA:--- El amor brujo with Carol Brice mezzo-soprano (1946) * (re-recorded with Leontyne Price in Chicago)GERSHWIN:--- "Porgy and Bess" Symphonic Picture arr. Robert Russell Bennett (1945)GLINKA:--- Kamarinskaya (1946)HONEGGER:--- Concertino for Piano with Oscar Levant, Columbia SymphonyKABALEVSKY:--- Colas Breugnon Overture (1945) *KODALY:--- Dances of Galánta (1945)MAHLER:--- Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Carol Brice mezzo-soprano (1946)MOZART:--- Symphony no 35 "Haffner" (1946)--- Symphony no 40 (1947) * (Chicago remake also mono)--- Don Giovanni:-------- “Don Ottavio, son morta! - Or sai chi l'onore” with Ljuba Welitsch soprano, Alessio De Paolis tenor, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (1950)-------- “Crudele? - Non mi dir, bell' idol mio” with Ljuba Welitsch soprano, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (1950)MUSSORGSKY:--- Night on Bare Mountain (1945) *RAVEL:--- La valse (1947)RICHARD ROGERS:--- Carousel: Waltz (1941)ROSSINI:--- Il Signor Bruschino: Overture (1946) *SHOSTAKOVICH:--- Symphony No.6 (1945)J. STRAUSS II:--- Schatz-Walzer Op.418 (1941) *--- Wiener Blut Op.354 (1941) *--- Rosen aus dem Süden Waltzes Op.388 (1941) *R.STRAUSS:--- Le Bourgeois gentilhomme Suite (1946) * (the Chicago remake omitted two movements)--- Don Juan (1941) *--- Don Quixote with Gregor Piatigorsky cello (1941) * (re-recorded with Antonio Janigro in Chicago)--- Ein Heldenleben (1947) *--- Salome: Final Scene with Ljuba Welitsch soprano, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (1949) * (re-recorded with Inge Borkh in Chicago)TCHAIKOVSKY:--- Suite for Orchestra no 1 in D major, Op. 43: Marche (1945) *WAGNER:--- Tannhäuser: Overture & Venusberg Music (1941)--- Lohengrin: Preludes to Acts 1, 3 (1941)--- Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg:-------- Preludes to Acts 1,3 (1941) *-------- Dance of the Apprentices (1941) *-------- Entry of the Mastersingers(1941) *--- Siegfried: Forest Murmurs (1941)--- Die Walküre: Ride of the Valkyries(1940)LEO WEINER:--- Divertimento Op.20 "Old Hungarian Dances" (1945)* re-recorded in stereo with Chicago Symphony or Vienna Philharmonic (exception: Mozart Symphony 40 remake was mono).RECORDINGS NOT CONDUCTED BY REINER:BACH sung by Carol Brice soprano, with Daniel Saidenberg, Columbia Broadcasting Concert Orchestra (1948):--- Magnificat in D major BWV 243:-------- Ex exultavit-------- Esurientes implevit bonis--- Mass in B minor BWV 232:-------- Qui sedes-------- Agnus DeiSONGS sung by Ljuba Welitsch soprano, with Paul Ulanowsky piano (1950):--- DARGOMIZHSKY: ”I am sad”, “The Miller”--- JOSEPH MARX: “Hat dich die Liebe berüht”, Valse de Chopin (text from Pierrot Lunaire)--- MUSSORGSKY: “Where are you, little star?”--- R.STRAUSS: “Cäcilie”, “Die Nacht” ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great value *by J***F on Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 28, 2016* Most people contemplating the purchase of this handsomely packaged boxed set will have some or many of the works in their collections already, courtesy of the plethora of fine recordings from other conductors and orchestras.So why purchase this box? Simply because many of these recordings sound amazing: the conducting by the Reiner is always totally assured; the playing of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra confirms it as one of the top orchestras of the world; and last but not least the recording engineers were clearly masters of their art.A fairly nice touch is the faithful reproductions of the original LP sleeves on the CD jackets, even if they don't scale well to the smaller area. More significantly, the one-to-one rmapping of LPs to CDs does mean, as noted by other reviewers, that some of the CDs are very short and so could have been fewer in number with more squeezed on to each. Hence one star deducted.Even if you already have some of these Reiner recordings in your collection, this is a great way to get more. And if you do not have any of the recordings included here, buying this boxed set is an easy decision. Buy while still in production and available at this modest price. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.in/products/221069423-complete-columbia-collection](https://www.desertcart.in/products/221069423-complete-columbia-collection) --- *Product available on Desertcart India* *Store origin: IN* *Last updated: 2026-05-05*