Fritz Reiner was one of the foremost conductors of his time. Crowning his long career was the decade from 1954 to 1963 as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Luckily for posterity, Reiner’s legendary interpretations at the helm of the Chicago Symphony – which no less than Igor Stravinsky called “the most precise and flexible orchestra in the world” – were captured on record by RCA Victor. Now, for the first time ever, they are being issued together in a single Sony Classical box set of 63 re-mastered CDs.

In 10 years, he recorded 122 compositions with the CSO. The first was Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, set down in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall on March 6, 1954. One of the earliest RCA stereophonic commercial recordings, it was followed 2 days later by Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra.

Reiner’s last concerts in Chicago took place in the spring of 1963, and on April 22–23 he made his last recording with the orchestra: Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto, with Van Cliburn.

Every recording in this new set comes from the best re-mastered source. A third have been newly re-mastered from the original tapes. This Reiner/Chicago Symphony edition is destined to become essential for serious record collections around the world.

Contents:
CD 1
- Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30
- Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils 

CD 2
- Ein Heldenleben, Op.40
John Weicher (violin)
 
CD 3
- Piano Concerto No.1 in D Minor, Op.15
Arthur Rubinstein (piano)
 
CD 4
- Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra
- Don Juan Op.20  
 
CD 5
- Symphony No.3 in E-Flat Major, Op.55 "Eroica"
 
CD 6
- Violin Concerto in D, Op.77
Jascha Heifetz (violin)
 
CD 7
- Piano Concerto No.1 in B-Flat Minor Op.23
Emil Gilels (piano) 
 
CD 8
- Divertimento No.17 in D, K.334
- Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade, K.525, in G) 
 
CD 9
- Concerto for Orchestra
 
CD 10
- Elektra: Elektra's Soliloquy - Allein! Weh, ganz allein  
- Elektra: Recognition Scene - Was willst du, fremder Mensch? 
- Elektra: Finale - Elektra! Schwester! Komm mit uns!  
 
CD 11
- Le bourgeois gentilhomme: Suite, Op.60
- Salome: Final Scene - Ah! Du wolltest mich nicht deinen Mund
 
CD 12
- Symphony No.7 in A, Op.92
- Fidelio Overture, Op.72b
 
CD 13
- 1812 Overture, Op.49
- Mephisto Waltz
- Schwanda: Polka and Fugue
- The Bartered Bride: Overture
- Carnival Overture, Op.92
 
CD 14
- Concerto No.2 for Piano and Orchestra, Op.18 in C Minor
Arthur Rubinstein (piano)
 
CD 15
- Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43; Introduction Rubinstein, Arthur   0:09 
- Noches en los jardines de España
Arthur Rubinstein (piano)
 
CD 16
- Morning Papers, Op.279
- Emperor Waltz, Op.437
- On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Op.314
- Invitation to the Dance, Op.65
- Village Swallows, Op.164
- Der Rosenkavalier: Waltzes
 
CD 17
- Violin Concerto in D, Op.35
Jascha Heifetz (violin)
 
CD 18
- Piano Concerto No.1 in F-Sharp Minor, Op.1
- Burleske
Byron Janis (piano)
 
CD 19
- Symphonia domestica, Op.53
 
CD 20
- Symphony No.36 in C Major, K.423 "Linz"
- Symphony No.39 in E-Flat Major, K.543
 
CD 21
- Symphony No.40 in G Minor, K.550
- Symphony No.41 in C Major, K.551 "Jupiter"
 
CD 22
- Lieutnant Kijé, Op.60
- Song of the Nightingale 
 
CD 23
Brahms - Piano Concerto No.2 in B-Flat Major, Op.83
Emil Gilels (piano)
 
CD 24
- Rapsodie espagnole
- Pavan for a Dead Princess
- Isle of the Dead, Op.29
 
CD 25
- Pictures at an Exhibition
 
CD 26
- Symphony No.3 in F Major, Op.90
- Tragic Overture, Op.81
 
CD 27
- Symphony No.6 in B Minor, Op.74 "Pathétique" 
 
CD 28
- Ibéria
- Valses nobles et sentimentales
- Alborada del gracioso
 
CD 29
- Symphony No.9 in E Minor, Op.95 "From the New World" 
 
CD 30
- Goyescas: Intermezzo
- La vida breve: Interlude
- La vida breve: Dance
- The Three-Cornered Hat: The Neighbors' Dance
- The Three-Cornered Hat: The Miller's Dance
- The Three-Cornered Hat: Final Dance
- Iberia, Book 4: Navarra
- Iberia, Book 1: Fête-dieu à Seville
- Iberia, Book 2: Triana, No.3
 
CD 31
- Mysterious Mountain, Op.132 (Symphony No.2)
- The Fairy's Kiss
 
CD 32
- 1812 Overture, Op.49
- The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), Op.26
- Mephisto Waltz
- Tragic Overture, Op.81
 
CD 33
- William Tell: Overture
- La scala di seta: Overture
- Il signor Bruschino: Overture
- Il barbiere di Siviglia: Overture
- La gazza ladra: Overture
- La Cenerentola: Overture
 
CD 34
- Symphony No.5 in C Minor, Op.67
- Coriolan Overture, Op.62 
 
CD 35
- Symphony No.4 in G
 
CD 36
- Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
- Hungarian Sketches
 
CD 37
- Das Lied von der Erde
 
CD 38
- Symphony No.88 in G-Major 
 
CD 39
- Don Quixote, Op.35

CD 40
- Piano Concerto No.25 in C-Major, K.503
 
CD 41
- Alexander Nevsky, Op.78
 
CD 42
- Colas Breugnon, Op.24: Overture
- Marche slave
- Prince Igor: Polovtsian March
- A Night on Bald Mountain
- Suite No.1 in D Minor, Op.43: March miniature
- Russlan and Ludmilla: Overture
 
CD 43
- Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op.54
Van Cliburn (piano)
 
CD 44
The Nutcracker, Op.71:
- Overture
- Christmas Tree Scene
- March
- Divertissement: Chocolate: Spanish Dance
- Divertissement: Coffee: Arabian Dance
- Divertissement: Tea: Chinese Dance
- Divertissement: Trepak: Russian Dance
- Divertissement: Dance of the Flutes
- Divertissement; Mother Gigogne and the Clowns
- Divertissement; Waltz of the Flowers
- Pas de deux: Dance of the Prince and the Sugar-Plum Fairy
- Pas de deux: Variation I: Tarantella
- Pas de deux: Variation II: Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy
- Pas de deux: Coda
- as de deux: Final Waltz
- Pas de deux: Apotheosis
 
CD 45
- Pines of Rome
- Fountains of Rome
 
CD 46
- Scheherazade

CD 47
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg:
- Prelude to Act I/Vorspiel 1. Aufzug
- Prelude to Act III/Vorspiel 3. Aufzug
- Dance of the Apprentices/Tanz der Lehrbuben
- Procession of the Meistersingers/Aufzug der Meistersinger
Götterdämmerung:
- Siegfried's Rhine Journey/Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt
- Siegfried's Funeral Music/Trauermarsch

CD 48
- La mer
- Don Juan, Op.20
 
CD 49
- Vienna Blood, Op.354
- Künstlerleben, Op.316
- Mein Lebenslauf ist Lieb' und Lust, Op.263
- Roses from the South, Op.388 (From The Queen's Lace Hankerchief)
- Treasure Waltz, Op.418 (From The Gypsy Baron)
- Thunder and Lightning, Op.324
 
CD 50
- Symphony No.8 in B Minor - "Unfinished"
- Symphony No.5 in B-Flat Major, D.485
 
CD 51
- Totentanz, S. 126, R. 457 Danse macabre
- Piano Concerto No.1 in F-Sharp Minor, Op.1
Byron Janis (piano)
 
CD 52
- Piano Concerto No.5 in E-Flat, Op.73 "Emperor"
Van Cliburn (piano)
 
CD 53
- Piano Concerto No.2 in B-Flat, Op.83
Van Cliburn (piano), Robert La Marchina (cello)
 
CD 54
- Symphony No.9 in D Minor, Op.125 - "Choral"
 
CD 55
- Symphony No.1 in C Major, Op.21
 
CD 56
- Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30
 
CD 57
- Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor, Op.18
Van Cliburn (piano)
 
CD 58
- Piano Concerto No.4 in G, Op.58
Van Cliburn (piano)
 
CD 59
- Symphony No.6 in F, Op.8 "Pastorale"
 
CD 60
- Les nuits d'été, Op.7
- El amor brujo
Leontyne Price (soprano)
 
CD 61
- Symphony No.101 in D Major "The Clock"
- Symphony No.95 in C Minor
 
CD 62
- Concerto in A Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op.54
- Totentanz, S. 126, R. 457 Danse macabre
Byron Janis (piano) 
 
CD 63
- Piano Concerto in F Minor
- The Star Spangled Banner
- Reiner discusses Beethoven's Seventh Symphony
- Symphony No.7 in A, Op.92: III. Allegro con brio (Beginning)