Up Next: Satie and Kodaly

Today, while driving to a dress rehearsal, an interpretation of Eric Satie's Gymnopédies #3 was on WFMT The performance (which was the arrangement by Debussy) was delivered in very slow and deliberate manner. The performance turned out to be a live performance given by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 25 March 1960. I've never heard a more moving rendition of the Satie, and there are many excellent performances of it in existence.

The broadcast of the Satie was then followed by the live performance of Galanta Dances Zoltán Kodály. It's obvious that Reiner was a master of any score he chose to perform, and both these recordings should squash any ideas that Reiner's interpretations were "cold." It's my personal opinion that the adage "There can be no expression without technique" is a very fitting description of the CSO during Reiner's tenure.