Your favorite Sheherazade LP ?

I too like the Reiner CSO recording but have to add that Analogue Productions did this recording a great service when they reissued it on SACD/hybrid. It's also available as a DSD download on the Acoustic Sounds website. 

I know at least one local audiophile and long trem musician/music lover that can steer you to what he believes are some well engineered Columbia Ormandy discs. I believe he love the Russian Easter Overture.

The best ever recording is not on vinyl(and i'm a vinyl guy) but on CD .
  Sir Charles Mackerras  London SO on Telarc CD80208  1990
 
Sir Charles was the most musical conductor of all .



 

First off I am a big fan of Rimsky Korsakov and particularly his mid and far eastern tone poems and orchestral works, he really made his mark with me from a very young age.

I have copies of the Reiner CSO on both Chesky and Acoustic Sounds vinyl and RCA SACD and a Classic Record release on CD, great performance and excellent sound quality on both but the debate between vinyl and CD really becomes clear as an aside to the question. I also have a CD recording of the 1962 Ormandy recording with Philadelphia. Also a Telarc cd with MacKerras and The London Symphony.

All excellent recordings and interpretations but the one that moves me the most and is the one to own, ALONG with the 1960 Reiner Chicago version of the ones listed is the Beecham & Royal Philarmonic on EMI classics, sure wish I had the vinyl!  The tonal colors of the orchestra are absolutely brilliant and outside a live performance I can’t imagine a performance and recording of a full orchestra better than this one.

I also think the Reiner RCA is terrific for both interpretation and sound quality.
  
FWIW the last Penguin Guide I have says it "stands out"  among many other superb recordings of this piece, and gave a Rosette to the RCA SACD version.

Love the Reiner as well.  Jose Serebrier and London Philharmonic on Reference Recordings is my favorite. A friend turned me onto it and that recording got me into classical. 

Another vote for Reiner and CSO. Fabulous.

Renaissance - Scheherazade and Other Stories: 1st UK press is the best ;)
Anserment/Suisse Romande DECCA original (also its licensed Contour Red Label CC7501 (UK) is surprisingly good)

Renaissance - Sheherazade

:-)

Enjoy,
Bob

Ansermet/Suisse Romande Decca cs 6212

Kal

I like the Renaissance version. :-)

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Ozawa, DG circa 1979.

The finest performance, it doesn't drag, not too fast, and the dynamic hits are well coalesced.

Has anyone yet heard the recently released Scheherazade recorded by the Marc Aubort/Joanna Nickrenz team on Classic Records CR 2002?

Moscow State Symphony Orchestra
Pavel Kogan, conductor
Classic Records CR 2002-200G

Aubort/Nickrenz are one of my favorite recording teams, thus my interest.
.

I concur with Rushton and Newbee re: the Reiner/CSO on RCA. A wonderful, visceral experience. The Classic Records reissue is readily available and is a great addition to any collection.

I also enjoy the Dorati/Minneapolis Scheherazade, and was just listening to it last evening (Mercury SR90332). It is a little tipped up, and my pressing doesn't quite get the bass drum right, but the pacing and performance are great.

Don't overlook Rushtons 2d nomination. Reiner and the CSO, is IMHO, more exciting and an outstanding recording. One of the great RCA Living Stereo's. It can't be beat! And audiophiles will nod their approval as well.

Beecham's is also excellent and a worthy 2d best to Reiner's. It smooth and flows beautifully, but it is not IMHO as exciting as Reiners.

There are a lot of excellent recordings of this piece, and I have my fair share, but all but the above 2 are superflous.

Enjoy..........

Thanks. It's easy to get in above one's head when it comes to classical music, but I know I can rely on fellow A-goners to guide a relative newcomer in the right directions. It was the FIRST time I had heard Sheherazade! I thought the imaging and soundstage were very good, but I may have been taken by the beautiful music. The timbre of the instruments--especially woodwinds--was mediocre. I will certainly check out the recordings you suggested, especially the Beecham, which is on all three of your responses.

Beecham/RPO, EMI ASD 251 (Testament reissue)

Reiner/CSO, RCA LSC 2446
.

My Beecham with the Royal Philharmonic is on the Angel (EMI) label.
Catalog number is AE-34417

Also check out these if you come across them:

Kondrashin, Concertgeboux; Philips 9500-681

Monteux, London Symphony; London/Decca STS-15158

Previn, Vienna Philharmonic; Philips 6514-231
.

I'm glad you liked it, but it was on the Columbia label, and Columbia recording engineers did a criminal disservice to Ormandy and the Philly strings. Neither I nor my parents would buy anything that was *not* Ormandy when I was young. That said, he has been surpassed in this material both interpretively and sound-wise. There's the evergreen Beecham on EMI with the most delectable winds ever. There's Svetlanov and the LSO on EMI, a spectacular recording, (Bishop/Parker), and an informed performance. I have a soft spot for Ansermet's with the Paris Concervatory Orchestra (on London Treasury or Blueback here in the States), because of the old-school winds and brass.