- Conductor: Christoph-Mathias Mueller
- Composer: Max Reger
- Audio CD (31 May 2011)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Telos
- ASIN: B004WB0XO6
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 100,393 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Romances op. 50 |
| 2. Violin Concert op. 101 |
| 3. Aria op. 103a no.3 (world première recording) |
Product Description
Review
Lessing's account of the Concerto's challenging solo part seems pretty well ideal: he is up to all the technical challenges but is also thoughtful in bringing out the poignancy in much of Reger's lyrical moments. --IRR,Dec'11
CD Description
Max Reger as a composer, pianist, organist and conductor, he is undoubtedly one of the more unknown, even puzzling well-knowns in music history. Aside from nine sonatas for violin and piano and his epochal revival of compositions for violin alone in the manner of Bach´s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (Four Sonatas op. 42 from 1899 mark the beginning of a series of substantial cycles for violin solo). Reger also wrote several works for violin and orchestra, which are played in their entirety for the first time for this recording.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Reger - Violin ConcertoReger/Strauss,Romantic Piano concertos
Max Reger's Violin Concerto is a monster, that is, in terms of sheer length. The work clocks in at just under an hour; the first movement alone lasts nearly 27 to 28 minutes. Busoni's mammoth Piano Concerto, which can run to 74 minutes, is a comparable masterpiece. Although the brilliance of both works is absolutely apparent, these are pieces that will never be programmed for the concert hall. It is not just the tremendous technical demands that must be met by the soloist, but the lengthy symphonic phrases and unrelenting musical suspense of the former, and the mercurial choral symphony-like structure of the latter, which defy the expectations of a conventional concerto to an audience.
I own the Manfred Scherzer version of the original concerto (on Berlin Classics), conducted by Herbert Blomstedt. What we have in this new disc is the world premiere of the re-orchestration of the work by Reger's disciple Adolph Busch. At 17 years of age, Busch played the concerto from memory to an astonished Reger. Reger himself recognized that his own heavy orchestration was problematic. After Reger's death, Busch, honoring the genius of the work, sought to bring more transparency to the orchestration and achieve a more effective balance between the orchestra and soloist by re-assigning parts. Busch did not change a note of music. His goal was to find a wider acceptance of this masterwork in the concert hall. Whether this first recording can accomplish this remains to be seen.
Scherzer was not really up to the Herculean task of the soloist, although he does an acceptable job. Kolja Lessing, equally well-versed in both violin and piano, gives a fine performance that does not depend of pyrotechnical display but is movingly thoughtful. The warmth of the two Romances is deeply poignant, as is the world premiere of the Air, which nearly quotes Bach's famous Air at the start. The Gottingen Symphony Orchestra is an excellent ensemble, and Christoph-Mathias Mueller is a conductor of great sensitivity.
It should be noted that the recording engineers strike a perfect balance, never overly spotlighting the soloist as one finds in many concerto recordings. The concert hall ambiance is admirable.
One hopes that this new recording will bring a legion of new admirers to these works, just as Hamelin's Hyperion recording has done for Reger's Piano Concerto (and Busoni's for that matter). In my opinion, Reger was the composer most aware that age of Romantic music was coming to an end, and there is a melancholy sense of loss that pervades his later works. While his music is redolent of Brahms, his form is unique; Reger was a progressive composer and was highly influential to the Expressionist/Late Romantic movement. Perhaps that is why the orchestral Reger is so rarely performed in the concert repertoire.
Max Reger's Violin Concerto is a monster, that is, in terms of sheer length. The work clocks in at just under an hour; the first movement alone lasts nearly 27 to 28 minutes. Busoni's mammoth Piano Concerto, which can run to 74 minutes, is a comparable masterpiece. Although the brilliance of both works is absolutely apparent, these are pieces that will never be programmed for the concert hall. It is not just the tremendous technical demands that must be met by the soloist, but the lengthy symphonic phrases and unrelenting musical suspense of the former, and the mercurial choral symphony-like structure of the latter, which defy the expectations of a conventional concerto to an audience.
I own the Manfred Scherzer version of the original concerto (on Berlin Classics), conducted by Herbert Blomstedt. What we have in this new disc is the world premiere of the re-orchestration of the work by Reger's disciple Adolph Busch. At 17 years of age, Busch played the concerto from memory to an astonished Reger. Reger himself recognized that his own heavy orchestration was problematic. After Reger's death, Busch, honoring the genius of the work, sought to bring more transparency to the orchestration and achieve a more effective balance between the orchestra and soloist by re-assigning parts. Busch did not change a note of music. His goal was to find a wider acceptance of this masterwork in the concert hall. Whether this first recording can accomplish this remains to be seen.
Scherzer was not really up to the Herculean task of the soloist, although he does an acceptable job. Kolja Lessing, equally well-versed in both violin and piano, gives a fine performance that does not depend of pyrotechnical display but is movingly thoughtful. The warmth of the two Romances is deeply poignant, as is the world premiere of the Air, which nearly quotes Bach's famous Air at the start. The Gottingen Symphony Orchestra is an excellent ensemble, and Christoph-Mathias Mueller is a conductor of great sensitivity.
It should be noted that the recording engineers strike a perfect balance, never overly spotlighting the soloist as one finds in many concerto recordings. The concert hall ambiance is admirable.
One hopes that this new recording will bring a legion of new admirers to these works, just as Hamelin's Hyperion recording has done for Reger's Piano Concerto (and Busoni's for that matter). In my opinion, Reger was the composer most aware that age of Romantic music was coming to an end, and there is a melancholy sense of loss that pervades his later works. While his music is redolent of Brahms, his form is unique; Reger was a progressive composer and was highly influential to the Expressionist/Late Romantic movement. Perhaps that is why the orchestral Reger is so rarely performed in the concert repertoire.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
