Fritz Reiner: A Biography

A wag in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra supposedly told his terrorized colleagues after their first rehearsal with the intimidating Reiner, ``Well, not much of a conductor but an awfully nice fellow.'' The quip sums up the qualities of the Hungarian-born maestro (1888-1963) in reverse. He was, of course, an extraordinary conductor, whose performances--and particularly the recordings he made with the CSO in the late '50s--became the stuff of legend. He was also, as Hart makes clear, overbearing and tyrannical to his musicians, vain, often devious and remote (in the years he conducted in Chicago he continued to live in Connecticut). Reiner's first American post was with the Cincinnati Symphony, which he built into an orchestra that could compete with the best. A spell with the Pittsburgh Orchestra yielded similar results. But his triumphs were the years in Chicago, and his 1948-1950 seasons with New York's Metropolitan Opera. Reiner was a brilliant teacher and an orchestra builder without peer. His performances of Bartok remain definitive, and his Richard Strauss was particularly remarkable . This study by Hart ( Orpheus in the New World ) is thorough and dutiful, but lacks the color so controversial a figure should surely inspire. Discography. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)