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The Last Words of Christ (REGER, HAYDN, WEBERN & Others – Ebonit Sax Q. – Challenge Classics

The Last Words of Christ (REGER, HAYDN, WEBERN & Others – Ebonit Sax Q. – Challenge Classics

by | Oct 13, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Ebonit Saxophone Quartet – The Last Words of Christ – REGER/HAYDN/WEBERN/SIBELIUS/SHOSTAKOVICH – Challenge Classics multichannel SACD CC72701, 53:13 (2/3/16) ****: (Simone Muller, soprano saxophone/ Dineke Nauta, alto saxophone/ Johannes Pfeuffer, tenor saophone/ Paulina Marta Kulesza, baritone saxophone/ Claron McFadden, voice) A nearly successful  attempt at solemnity. In 1786 a work by Joseph Haydn premiered in Cadiz, Spain. The occasion was Good Friday Service in a “subterranean” cathedral. According to reports made to Haydn, the church was darkened and a priest flung himself before the altar and uttered the first word of the seven last sentences spoken by Jesus before his death. A homily on each word followed, separated by the performance of each of the seven movements. Together, music and text comprised the Easter celebration of the Passion.  As such, it appears to belong to the tradition of religious music which reached its apogee in Handel, Pergolesi and Bach. However, I  have always had a problem with this notion; The Seven Last Words of Christ considered in purely musical terms does not seem to express any noticeable degree of solemnity, no transcendent yearning or tragedy. Certainly, the old Haydn jollity and wit are set aside, but instead we hear a […]

REGER: Organ Works performed by Christoph Schoener – MD&G

REGER: Organ Works performed by Christoph Schoener – MD&G

by | Jul 15, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

REGER: Organ Works performed by Christoph Schoener (TrackList follows) MD&G 949 1919-6 multichannel SACD with 2+2+2 option (see below) TT: 63:43 (10/30/15) [Distr. by E1] ****:   Recording and performance should please audiophiles as well as organ fans. Christoph Schoener is the organist in this fine collection of organ works by Max Reger. Reger, who died in 1916, wrote a large amount of music for organ, the most popular being his Fantasy and Fugue on BACH, Op. 46 and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor from the collection Op. 129. While a student under Hugo Riemann in Wiesbaden, Reger met the German organist Karl Straube; they became friends and Straube premiered many of Reger’s organ works.  This disc has a large selection of Reger’s output. A track list follows at the end of this review. Besides the music, this disc will appeal to the audiophile, as it is a full 5.1 channel SACD with extremely wide dynamic range and very low noise. The recording is designed to capture the acoustics at St. Michaels Church in Hamburg, which it does well. The surround channels are filled with the  gentle decay of the recording venue. The subwoofer also gets a workout from the […]

MAX REGER: Music for Clarinet and Piano = Albumblatt; Sonata; Sonata in F-sharp minor; Sonata in B-flat major; Tarantella – Alan R. Kay, clar./Jon Klibonoff, p. – Bridge

MAX REGER: Music for Clarinet and Piano = Albumblatt; Sonata; Sonata in F-sharp minor; Sonata in B-flat major; Tarantella – Alan R. Kay, clar./Jon Klibonoff, p. – Bridge

by | May 3, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

MAX REGER: Music for Clarinet and Piano = Albumblatt; Sonata in A-flat major, Op. 49, No. 2; Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 49. No. 1; Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 107; Tarantella – Alan R. Kay, clarinet/Jon Klibonoff, p. – Bridge 9461, 71:58 (4/04/16) ****: 
Very rewarding performances of some lesser known works. There has been something of a resurgence in the music of Max Reger lately, with several new recordings that have caught my attention; everything from his organ preludes to some choral works and more recordings of his clarinet works. Interestingly, it is his clarinet music – especially the two sonatas of the Opus 49 – that may be his best known works. I have played and admired these two sonatas for some time. One can certainly hear the strains of Brahms, who Reger greatly admired, throughout all of this music. The two famous sonatas, not to mention the others played here, never became as well-known as those by Brahms probably due to their very adventuresome harmonic discourse and the very challenging piano parts. It is also said that Reger, himself, was a rather reclusive and hard to-get-along-with-person; that may have stunted his renown. Oh well. These works are […]

Feuermann = BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major; SCHUBERT: Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor; BRAHMS: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor; REGER: Suite for Unaccompanied Cello in G Major – Emanuel Feuermann, c./ Myra Hess, p. (Beethoven)/ Gerald Moore, p. (Schubert) – Pristine Audio

Feuermann = BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major; SCHUBERT: Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor; BRAHMS: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor; REGER: Suite for Unaccompanied Cello in G Major – Emanuel Feuermann, c./ Myra Hess, p. (Beethoven)/ Gerald Moore, p. (Schubert) – Pristine Audio

by | Jul 7, 2013 | Classical Reissue Reviews

Pristine and Mark Obert-Thorn assemble a broad chamber music program by the inimitable master cellist Emanuel Feuermann, whose premature death Toscanini called “murder.”