MAX REGER: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart, Op. 132; Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Johann Adam Hiller, Op. 100 – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul von Kempen (Op. 100)/Karl Bohm (Op. 132) – Guild

by | Jun 18, 2010 | Classical Reissue Reviews | 0 comments

MAX REGER: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart, Op. 132; Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Johann Adam Hiller, Op. 100 – Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul von Kempen (Op. 100)/Karl Bohm (Op. 132)

Guild GHCD 2363, 75:04 [Distr. by Albany] ****:


The music of organist and pedagogue Max Reger (1873-1916), that colorful Brahms acolyte, has had few adherents in modern times; one might conjecture that his esoteric and learned style does not export well beyond German confines. Reger enjoyed a substantial relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic, however, both as composer and occasional conductor. Artur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwaengler, Eugen Jochum, Hermann Abendroth, Carl Schuricht, and Joseph Keilberth consistently championed Reger’s assorted works with the BPO.

The recording of The Hiller Variations (July 1951) with Dutch conductor Paul van Kempen (1893-1955) endures as the music’s first commercial inscription. The music is based on “a merry tune” from Hiller’s 1771 singspiel The Garland of Harvest, and Reger’s treatment received its debut (15 October 1907) by its dedicatee, Fritz Steinbach, in Cologne. The scale of the variations proves quite vast, incorporating a large orchestra that occasionally–as in Variations IV and IX–bursts forth with a swaggering insouciance reminiscent of Richard Strauss in an expansive mood. Reger’s capacity for graceful melody reveals itself often, as in Variation V, a rather expansive arioso-serenade. The Minuetto variation appears relatively chaste and deliberately archaic, akin to the Richard Strauss Dance Suite After Couperin and the French Suite by Egk. Tympani, harp, strings, and athletic brass and winds color the Presto Variation VII. Chromatic coloration invests Variation VIII, Andante con moto, whose hazy gauze might suggest Delius. An imposing thickness of texture saturates Variation X, Allegro appassionato. The longest variation, XI, plays as a miniature, self-contained tone-poem in post-Impressionist syntax. Finally, Reger’s long acquisition of Bach counterpoint, cross-fertilized by the Brahms influence, produces the Fugue – a light spirited affair in frothy orchestral colors. The Breughel spirit reigns, a learned and densely-scored canon via village dance and its eventual apotheosis, somewhat reminiscent of Weinberger’s Schwanda the Bagpiper. The transfer to CD, eminently clean and brilliantly-articulated, owes its aurally raucous and illuminated impact to the remastering art of Peter Reynolds.

Reger composed his popular Mozart Variations and Fugue in 1914, basing them on the A Major K. 331 Piano Sonata upon which Mozart himself lavished variation talents. The rendition here (19-21 December 1956) has at the helm Karl Bohm (1894-1981), who first conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in 1935. Bohm led the first inscription of the Mozart Variations in Dresden in 1937. The singular difference in the two scores lies in the lightness and transparency of orchestral texture in the Mozart. Reger suddenly adds muted and unmuted strings to the harp and woodwind mix, calling for various degrees of pianissimo and mezzo-forte. The Vivace Variation (IV) could have been lifted from the Brahms Haydn set, Op. 56a. Variation V bears a faint resemblance to the Strauss Till Eulenspiegel. The Sostenuto Variation (VI) dreams in a spirit close to Dvorak and bucolic Goldmark. The reverie in Variation VII comes close to Humperdinck’s golden vision in Hansel und Gretel. Variation VIII provides an extended moment of emotional repose and eerie transcendence before the polyphonically dapper grand Fugue, a pattern that marks the Hiller Variations as well. That these are the only Berlin Philharmonic inscriptions of these two Reger staples should warrant the historical collector’s immediate commitment.

–Gary Lemco





Related Reviews
Logo Pure Pleasure
Logo Crystal Records Sidebar 300 ms
Logo Jazz Detective Deep Digs Animated 01