Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé / Stravinsky: Song of the Nightingale as a hybrid multichannel SACD from Analogue Productions’ RCA Living Stereo series: Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, remastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound from the original master tape. All six tracks play in one sequence – Kijé’s five scenes, then Stravinsky’s nightingale.
An officer who never existed
An officer who never existed. A bird whose song cannot be replaced by clockwork. These two Living Stereo performances bring together stories of deception, told through very different orchestral imaginations: Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra pair Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé with Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingale.
The scale of the orchestra is one attraction; following the individual characters inside it is another, and a particularly rewarding way into this programme. Expecting only the famous sleigh ride misses the quieter absurdity around it – and moving from Prokofiev’s grotesque military world to Stravinsky’s fairy tale becomes part of the pleasure.
An imaginary biography and two kinds of song
Lieutenant Kijé spins its joke far beyond the initial clerical mistake: five movements give the imaginary man a whole life – birth, romance, wedding, troika and burial. The score invents emotions for somebody who exists only on paper, with a tenor saxophone among its most distinctive colours.
Stravinsky’s contrast between a living and an artificial bird works differently. Song of the Nightingale comes from an opera, but there are no singers here: the orchestra must convey what is alive, mechanical or courtly display, with piano, celesta and two harps among its resources – instruments capable of sharply defined events as well as a larger orchestral picture.
The nightingale before the recording
Stravinsky’s piece is an orchestral work, not a recording of the opera. Completed in 1917, the symphonic poem draws on the later acts of Le Rossignol, and behind it lies Andersen’s contrast between a living nightingale and its mechanical imitation. The changing instrumental colours invite you to hear the difference between fluid song and sharply drawn figures.
The work also reached the ballet stage: the Balanchine Foundation records a 1925 production with designs by Henri Matisse. That theatrical connection is a lovely key to the whole programme – music tied to a story becomes a complete experience without a visible stage, and the orchestra carries every change of scene.
The hybrid multichannel SACD from Analogue Productions
CAPC 2150 SA is a hybrid multichannel SACD from Analogue Productions’ RCA Living Stereo series. According to the publisher, Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound remastered it from the original master tape; the original three-track session tapes were used for the mastering. Writing in The Absolute Sound, Arthur Lintgen praised the natural, open sound of this SACD. For the three-channel programme you need a multichannel-capable SACD player and a matching setup; the CD layer plays on any conventional CD player. The disc contains the five movements of Lieutenant Kijé and the Song of the Nightingale.
You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.
More from the series: RCA Living Stereo Series
Also in other editions: double LP (45 RPM) · Ultra Tape
More SACDs with Fritz Reiner: Pines of Rome & Fountains of Rome · Festival · Spain
Artist page: All titles by Fritz Reiner
Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe
Musicians
Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.
- Fritz ReinerConductor
- Chicago Symphony OrchestraOrchestra
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