Max Reger(1873-1916)

[Turner]

The Naxos have pretty good. It's a coproduction with Deutschlandradio and hessischer Rundfunk, respectively.

Yes, I sampled the JPC & Presto websites for mp3 excerpts, and those recordings seemed lively.
MDT has their big Naxos campaign sales a couple of days more. I´m not 100% sure I´ll be buying them right now, however.

[amw]

For the Clarinet Quintet, Sabine Meyer & her groupies on EMI is good, paired with the String Sextet which is much more rarely recorded and a bit denser/less attractive.

[SymphonicAddict]

I like this disc very much - I especially like the 'Isle of the Dead' (Boecklin Suite) as an interesting alternative to Rachmaninov's tone poem:
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Yes, that disc is excellent. The Böcklin Suite is quite successful, perhaps my favorite work by Reger. That atmosphere from 'Isle of the Dead' is haunting, even a little bit darker than the Rachmaninov's.

[vandermolen]

Yes, that disc is excellent. The Böcklin Suite is quite successful, perhaps my favorite work by Reger. That atmosphere from 'Isle of the Dead' is haunting, even a little bit darker than the Rachmaninov's.

Yes, the Boecklin Suite is my favourite work by Reger too.

[kyjo]

I like this disc very much - I especially like the 'Isle of the Dead' (Boecklin Suite) as an interesting alternative to Rachmaninov's tone poem:
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+1 The Boecklin Suite shows Reger at his most colorful and approachable (not a bit "academic") and is a fantastic work. I also greatly enjoy his graciously beautiful Mozart Variations and lush Romantic Suite. The only chamber work of his I'm familiar with is his Cello Sonata no. 4, which didn't really grab me too much until its nostalgically elegant finale.

[schnittkease]

The only chamber work of his I'm familiar with is his Cello Sonata no. 4, which didn't really grab me too much until its nostalgically elegant finale.

My first recommendations would be the charming Clarinet Quintet and 4th String Quartet. The fiendishly difficult Cello Suites are not to be missed either (especially by a fellow cellist). Erling Blöndal Bengtsson's CD, which emphasizes Reger's strong ties to Bach, is superb.

[kyjo]

My first recommendations would be the charming Clarinet Quintet and 4th String Quartet. The Cello Suites are not to be missed either; being a fellow cellist, I hope you have heard these (fiendishly difficult!) gems. The Bengtsson CD is superb - he emphasizes Reger's strong ties to Bach nicely.

Thanks for recommendations! Ah yes, I know the cello suites (mainly the first two) and they are indeed great and fiendishly difficult! I learned the Prelude to no. 1 a while back and have tried (unsuccessfully ) to sightread some of the other movements.

[Jo498]

For the Clarinet Quintet, Sabine Meyer & her groupies on EMI is good, paired with the String Sextet which is much more rarely recorded and a bit denser/less attractive.

I have that one but unfortunately this one is by now hard to get as a single disc. There was a box for the Reger anniversary (I don't know the other recordings in there) that contains it. There used to be also a Swiss recording (Jecklin) that was highly regarded but is probably even harder to get.
The sextet is a little more thorny but fairly accessible compared to a lot of other Reger chamber music. Generally his later stuff is often more accessible and less dense, e.g. the op.121 quartet rather than the op.54 and especially op.74.

Reger was really good at variations and he used themes that are far more memorable than those of his own invention, so the two big solo piano variations (on themes by Bach and Telemann) are also comparably accessible and I'd recommend them to all who like e.g. Brahms' Handel variations.

[SymphonicAddict]

My first recommendations would be the charming Clarinet Quintet and 4th String Quartet. The fiendishly difficult Cello Suites are not to be missed either (especially by a fellow cellist). Erling Blöndal Bengtsson's CD, which emphasizes Reger's strong ties to Bach, is superb.

I find the Clarinet quintet too dry and simple, I was utterly disappointed. However, I don't know the cello suites. The chamber work I like the most is the intense String sextet.

[André]

The Naxos have pretty good sound. It's a coproduction with Deutschlandradio and hessischer Rundfunk, respectively.

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@Vandermolen: I do not know the disc in question but the Böcklin suite and the variations (Hiller and Mozart) are probably the most accessible of Reger's usually longish and sometimes thorny orchestral music.

The music of Reger that is in practice most frequently performed is certainly his organ and choral stuff, both are commonly performed in Germany (not quite as common as Bach, but probably next for the organ and right after Brahms and Mendelssohn for the romantic choral stuff)

I have these discs but haven't listened to them yet (still in wraps, actually). Lately I have listened to the violin and cello sonatas, the string quartets, the solo violin sonatas (gorgeous stuff), some of the organ works (I'm taking my time with that one), the two concertos. Next, I'll turn to these string trios and piano quartets.

I find Reger a thoroughly fascinating composer. His music may sound a bit like he himself looks in his portraits (frownish, aloof, unsmiling), but upon closer acquaintance it is surprisingly ingratiating, passionate and emotional.

Yesterday I played the first movement of his op. 74 string quartet to a good friend unfamiliar with the composer. He was amazed - "never heard anything quite like this". Indeed, the movement unfolds not like a conversation between friends, but rather like a learned discussion, with surprising twists to the argument, changes of subject, returns to the main or secondary topic, etc. You can actually hear the different "participants" arguing. I feel I have learned something when I listen to a Reger work.

[Herman]

I find Reger a thoroughly fascinating composer. His music may sound a bit like he himself looks in his portraits (frownish, aloof, unsmiling), but upon closer acquaintance it is surprisingly ingratiating, passionate and emotional.

There are people, though, who hear a lot of humor in Reger's music, otherwise I agree with the above.

I have been, I don't know why, a Reger fan all my adult life, having purchased my first Reger LPs (the string quartets) forty years ago.

These days I have been listening a lot to his three viola solo suites, op 131d. Beautiful stuff.

[Herman]

The Reger I prefer is invariably the Chamber Music one.

Same here. Usually the Clarinet Quintet is mentioned, and I'd like to recommend a newish recording by Sharon Kam on clt and Isabelle van Keulen and Ulrike-Anima Mathe on violins, Volker Jacobsen and Gustav Rivinius.
The Reger is coupled with the Brahms clt quintet. It's a great cd.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

There are people, though, who hear a lot of humor in Reger's music, otherwise I agree with the above.

I have been, I don't know why, a Reger fan all my adult life, having purchased my first Reger LPs (the string quartets) forty years ago.

These days I have been listening a lot to his three viola solo suites, op 131d. Beautiful stuff.

I have to try those string quartets again. I have three sets, the DGG set that you are presumably referring to, as well as sets on cpo and MDG. They are very dense with ideas and I remember really struggling but finally breaking through and starting to enjoy them. One thing that I remember bugging me, his tendency to keep the violins in their highest register for a large fraction of the time, which I found grating on the ears.

[Herman]

I'm not familiar with the Drolc Quartet on DG.
The LPs I used to have in the seventies and eighties were on Turnabout and the ensemble was called the Reger Quartet. Probably an ad hoc ensemble, I'm not sure.
I like the Mannheim on MDG a lot. There is also a recording of the 109 by the Vogler quartet (coupled with the Clarinet Qt with Karl Leister).

And, yes, the first violin part is often extremily virtuosic, not just in its high range, but the music is very 'unsafe' as well, with tons of accidentals. You can't coast on the key. In addition the composer is extremily demanding as to fingerings: the violinists are constantly told which string to use.

[André]

The op. 91 solo violin sonatas are absolutely wonderful. Ulrike-Anima Mathé recorded them beautifully (IMO) on a Brilliant twofer (ex-Dorian).

[Herman]

I have had copies of the Dorian since way back, though as I said before on this relentlessly unstoppable topic, I prefer triple digit Reger, works past opus 100.

[staxomega]

I found a CD of the solo Cello Suites and Cello and Piano at my parent's house, performances by Pieter Wispelwey and Paolo Giacometti, what wonderful music. This disc will be going into my heavy listening.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I found a CD of the solo Cello Suites and Cello and Piano at my parent's house, performances by Pieter Wispelwey and Paolo Giacometti, what wonderful music. This disc will be going into my heavy listening.

I have the works with Gerhardt on Hyperion. I should find time for them...

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

As promised, I listened to the first of Reger's suites for Cello Unaccompanied (Gerhardt).

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It was pleasantly succinct, I enjoyed it. But it follows the pattern I have for Reger in my head, he tries too hard. He tries to pack so many ideas into every measure that they crowd each other. Comparing with the Bach pieces upon which these are obviously modeled the ideas seem to lack air, room to breath.

In any case, a positive listening experience and I will continue with the other pieces in this collection. Performance is impressive. Is this recording the best alternative, according to Reger fanatics?

[schnittkease]

Admittedly, I haven't heard the Gerhardt, but Erling Blöndal Bengtsson on Danacord makes a great case for Op. 131c. His interpretation is similar to how one might approach Bach's own suites: less rubato, taut phrasing, and no semblance of the overblown Romanticism that cellists often bring to Reger. True, most of his works require such treatment, but in the solo string works (where he is far more conservative) it seems less appropriate.

The coupling on Danacord is Ysaÿe's Op. 28; Gerhardt is great as it includes the four sonatas.