Fritz Reiner was a great conductor of music by many great composers. His vigorous Beethoven was great. His robust Brahms was great. His powerful Wagner was great. His strong
Strauss was great. Even his muscular Haydn was great. But, great as
Reiner was in conducting many great composers,
Reiner was a dud as a
Mahler conductor. As this 1958 Fourth with the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra shows,
Reiner did the one thing it might have been impossible to do with
Mahler's music: he made it sound even more overwrought than it already is. While this approach might have worked in the Second, the Sixth, or the Ninth, an overwrought interpretation of the sweet, kind, and gentle Fourth is more than the music can bear.
Reiner rushes the relaxed tempo in the opening movement to the point where the climax of the development seems almost apocalyptic.
Reiner intensifies the Scherzo to the point where the purposely out-of-tune first violin seems about to pop a string.
Reiner pushes the slow movement to the point where the climax of the variations seems nearly cataclysmic and the coda seems just about soporific.
Reiner, along with the orchestra, strongarms the song-finale so brusquely that the delectable
Lisa della Casa seems just about out of breath in the fast central verses. The
Chicago Symphony plays with its customary panache and Richard Mohr's "Living Stereo" production is typically brilliant, but
Reiner's interpretation is too much for the music.
Reiner seems to be trying to convince himself as much as the listener of
Mahler's merits, but ends up convincing no one.