Max Reger - Orchestral Works (Ira Levin)

Information

Composer: Max Reger

• (01) Variations and Fugue on a Theme by J.S. Bach, Op. 81 (arr. Ira Levin)
• (02) Bach - O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sünde groß, BWV 622 (arr. Max Reger)
• (03) Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin, Op. 128

Klaudyna Schulze-Broniewska, violin (3)
Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt
Ira Levin, conductor

Date: 2019
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.574074

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Review

That this is a welcome release scarcely needs to be said: too often Reger is considered a significant composer for organ, but significant within that niche: a master of fugal writing, perhaps on the heavy teutonic side. But, of course, there has always been more to him than this. This Naxos release allows wider access to his works in commendable performances by a conductor evidently deeply sympathetic to his cause.

The Variations and Fugue on a Theme by J.S.Bach, Op.81 (1904) are an arrangement by Ira Levin of Reger’s work for piano. In 1904, Reger considered it his finest work to date, and it was enthusiastically greeted on first public performance. The theme comes from the aria ‘Seine Allmacht zu ergründen, wird sich kein Mensche finden’, originally a duet for tenor and contralto, with oboe, viola d’amore and continuo, from Cantata No. 128, Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein. Reger had insisted that the pianist treat the theme ‘sweetly and always very legato—that is to say, like an oboe solo’. Levin’s arrangement catches that very well.

It should be noted that Levin does not merely rearrange for different instruments: he reconstructs the work in a valuable reimagining – tempo is slower, preferring 6/4 time to Reger’s more general 6/8. He omits four variations (6,7,11 and 12), and uses a broad variety of instrumentation, notably in percussion, though no instruments not found elsewhere in his works. The result has revealing clarity and a taut architecture, very enjoyable in its own terms. Orchestration brings out very sharply the relationship to the organ, especially in the opening variations, and perhaps even more to Reger’s reverence for Brahms: sonorities are frequently Brahmsian. Levin is absolutely true to the spirit of Reger and his special emotional world. If the letter is Reger is an issue, some will prefer the piano version: but there is more than enough room for both.

Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin, Op.128 (1913) is Reger’s best-known orchestral work, inspired by the paintings of Böcklin, the 19th Century Swiss artist. These were symbolist pictures, with some abrupt changes of mood. Reger marks these shifts with subtlety. The overall mood is serious, but with many charms, notably in Der geigende Eremit (‘The Hermit Fiddler’) with its lovely violin solo, wonderfully captured by Klaudyna Schulze-Broniewska, the leader of the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester.

Add the slightly romantic arrangement by Reger of O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde gross, BWV 622 to the mix, and we have a CD whose appeal should move far beyond Reger enthusiasts. This is a splendid introduction for those who have thought of Reger as too heavy for their tastes, and packed with insights for those who have come to love him.

-- Michael Wilkinson, MusicWeb International

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Max Reger (19 March 1873 – 11 May 1916) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher. Born in Brand, Bavaria, he studied music theory in Sondershausen, then piano and theory in Wiesbaden. Reger produced an enormous output in just over 25 years, nearly always in abstract forms, but few of his compositions are well known in the 21st century. He first composed mainly Lieder, chamber music, choral music and works for piano and organ, and only turned to orchestral compositions later. Among Reger's students were Joseph Haas, Jaroslav Kvapil, Rudolf Serkin and George Szell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Reger

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Ira Levin is currently the music director of the Theatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro. He was the artistic and music director of the Theatro Municipal of Sao Paulo as well as the principal guest conductor of the Theatro Colon in Buenos Aires, making him the only foreign conductor to have held leading positions in all of the largest and most important opera houses of Brazil and Argentina. An accomplished pianist, Ira Levin was the first-prize winner of the American National Chopin Competition in 1980. His over 40 publications include over several transcriptions for piano and cadenzas to Mozart concertos.
http://www.iralevin.net/

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