I am a brass person by nature, so sorry to all of you woodwind and string players who may find your sections left out of this review.

Simply put, this recording is astounding. The world renowed CSO brass section clearly displays its unmatched power and breadth in this recording. Fritz Reiner also did an excellent job in helping the orchestra render this work so beautifully. The highlight of this recording is the brilliant finale -- Pines of the Appian Way -- where the CSO brass give one of the most incredible performances I have ever heard in my life.

If you are a fan of Respighi and/or brass istruments, this recording is a must have.

There really are those of us who love the outstanding performances of the 50s and 60s without the scratch and pop ov vynil records. Hybrid CDs such as this one allow me to enjoy again the great artists, with a sound that rivals or exceeds the records released 50+ years ago.

Don't pass this up if you want to hear what may be the best performance of these works.

Much has been written about this recording, pretty much all of it justified. I will only add that what makes this performance and recording of Pines so special is the fact that Reiner treats the score as music, not as empty-headed bombast. That's how it often sounds, but here, everything is so beautfully realized that the end result is simply glorious music-making. No muscle-bound power a la Solti, but flexibility, care, and sensitivity abound. The tempi are ideally judged, the finesse of the playing is beyond compare, the power in the last movement perfectly gauged, the recording matchless for balance and clarity. Fountains is every bit as good. For me, there are no performances that can touch these. La Mer, even with the tape-editing error in the middle movement, shows much the same feel, though in this case there are plenty of competing renditions that will satisfy just as well. The Debussy is fine, the Respighi is as close to perfect as anyone could want.

This multichannel SACD utilizes the front 3 channels only, as this was the sound of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Fritz Reiner that was recorded more than 40 years ago by skilled technicians with top notch analog equipment. Absolutely puts you in the middle of the ninth or tenth row. This is the glorious Pines of Rome and spectacular Fountains of Rome that I grew up with, but with much cleaner and more dynamic sound!

The SACD reissues of RCA recordings from their wonderful 'Living Stereo' days is reaching full spate. The Reiner/ChicagoSO Respighi, rapturously acclaimed when it first came out, is heard here in even more glorious sound with the addition of SACD multichannel reproduction. The performance itself, along with the older and now sonically hors de combat Toscanini/NBC SO recording, are possibly the most exciting, the most 'right' I've ever heard. The Chicago was in marvelous condition in those days and the brass are especially glorious in the Pines of the Appian Way section. But lest we slight the winds and strings, they have their day, too, the latter especially deep and satiny in Pines of the Janiculum. Of more recent recordings of 'Pines' I have raved about a 2000 Cincinnati SO recording but this one, frankly, puts it in the shade both sonically and musically. This is a must-have for those who have the appropriate equipment to hear it in SACD.

As for 'La Mer' it too is given a good performance but it is not going to be anyone's primary reason for acquiring this disc. There are too many other La Mer recordings that are its equal or better.

As of the date of this review there are no sound clips for the prospective buyer to hear, but eventually, I assume, Amazon will put up sound clips from this disc and if they have by the time you're reading this I'd urge you to listen just to the first few seconds of the opening of 'Pines.' That high frequency orchestration, so exciting in live performance and so easily compressed and messed up by sound engineers on recordings, is absolutely clear and thrilling.

This is a must-have. It's that simple.

Scott Morrison