Best Recording of Scheherazade

By far my favorite is the circa 1979 DG recording by Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa. They get the timing right and dynamically make the music swing in just the right places when it needs to. Plus there is no better, longer, more impactive horn climax (the shipwreck)of any recording. Also, Silverstein's violin is patient. The Orchestra never rushes the tempo nor is it too drawn out and languid. Just right. I also saw the performance from the second row center in Symphony Hall that season and got completely caught up in the music, even though it was Friday afternoon and all the ladies groups were there to see and be seen.

To give some alternatives to the Beecham and Kondrashin which are excellent:

On LP:
Monteux, London Symphony, on London Records STS-15158
Previn, Vienna Philharmonic, on Philips 7337-231

On CD:
Haitink, London Symphony, on Philips 420-898-2
Mackerras, London Symphony, on Telarc CD-80208

If I were to narrow my own list of 5 down to one must have account it would be difficult since they each have thier own strong points, but my choice is:

*** Beecham / EMI (Great Recorings of the Century) ***

Beecham is a master of painting tonal colors best at capturing the magic and mystery of this enchanting tale, there is a hint of jasmine in the air as you are carried away by tale of "1001 Nights" The storm/shipwreck sequence has impressive power and savage fury which is hard to match.

The only slight negative is this is 1958 recording and the orchestral climaxes are a bit strained/ragged, better now with new ART remaster but noticeable compared to modern recording. There is also excellent version of Borodin's "polovtsian dances" included but again same issues with sound quality. This is minor point and doesn't keep me from playing this set again and again.

By comparison the Mackerras/Telarc has fabulous lush modern Telarc sound that is quite impressive demonstration class, but does not capture the magic mood as effectively as Beecham.

That's funny, I clicked on to vote for Reiner. Those were Chicago's best years, in many respects.

Just recently saw this glowing review for 1964 Stokowski/Cala version, worth reading:
http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2004/Feb04/Rimsky_Sheherezade.htm