Beethoven: Symphony 2; Mozart: Symphony 35/40
Fritz Reiner never was considered among the great conductors of the classics; Strauss and  Bart243;k were his calling cards. But these Beethoven and Mozart peformances are outstanding. They're in  the Toscanini mold, with razor-sharp execution, singing lines, and brisk speeds--virtues we're now  expecting from the so-called "historically informed performance" crowd, but Toscanini and  Fritz Reiner got there first and did it better. The Beethoven is slightly more expansive, with a delightful  opening dialogue between strings and winds, a flowing, nicely inflected Larghetto, and a dynamic Finale.  The Mozart works have a fierce, clipped quality (again, the Toscanini mold) but also boast redeeming  humor and depth. Sony's transfer engineers wring miracles from the 1945-1947 sound.--Dan Davis