Reger Clarinet Quintet, op. 146; String Sextet, op.
118
Diogenes Qrt; Thorsten Johanns (cl); Roland Glassl (va);
Wen-Sinn Yang (vc)
CPO 555 340-2 (74:30)
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New classical music releases reviewed in detail by Gavin Dixon
Thursday, 18 June 2020
Reger Clarinet Quintet String Sextet Johanns Diogenes Quartet
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Reger’s Clarinet
Quintet and String Sextet date from his later years (1915 and 1911 respectively)
and are considerably more lyrical and mellow than his reputation might lead you
to expect. The composer’s stylistic trajectory followed an arc, peaking during
his Munich years from 1901, when he was keen to be seen as progressive and
radical. By 1911 he had moved to Leipzig, and in 1915 to Jena, his style becoming
more mellow and stable each time, especially with the final move to Jena, a retirement
of sorts—he was still only in his early 40s, but would die the following year.
The Clarinet
Quintet, his last completed work, is very much in the tradition of Brahms. The clarinet
soloist intones haunting melodic lines, with the strings supporting with
intricate contrapuntal textures, which articulate novel—though rarely confrontational—harmonic
progressions. The work is well represented on disc, with 11 versions currently
listed on ArkivMusic, excluding this one. The top choices have long been the two
versions from clarinetist Karl Leister, with the Drolc Quartet (DG 4775518) and
the Vogler Quartet (Nimbus 5644)—there is also a 1990 version with the Philharmonia
Quartet Berlin, nla. The present recording fares well by comparison. Thorsten
Johanns and the Diogenes Quartet take slower tempos. The difference is slight,
but it allows for clearer phrasing and a well-articulated sense of form. Leister
is a master of fades to and from silence, and we don’t hear much of that from Johanns,
who is content to start a phrase with more definition and then to blend the tones.
Johanns also has a more focused tone, with suitable presence and definition,
but sometimes lacking warmth, especially in the upper register. But the definition
this brings, combined with the precision of the string playing, brings focus to
the phrasing and harmonic structures, a valuable asset in a work so dominated
by slow, lyrical music.
The String Sextet
is a more complex and agitated work, although it is similar in spirit to the
Clarinet Quintet, the music made up of bold, consonant harmonies, woven
together through contrapuntal imitation in the six parts. Dense thematic statements
regularly give way to more open, reflective passages, though even here the harmonic
language remains unpredictable and erratic. It’s understated compositional virtuosity
makes for a satisfying listen—Reger demonstrating his contrapuntal mastery, but
through the melodic fluency of his textures rather than through any radical juxtapositions.
The work is a
rarity on disc, in part due to the sheer technical difficulty it poses to
performers. The Fanfare Archive lists versions from Die Kammermusiker
Zurich (4:3, nla) and Ensemble Villa Musica (33:1). The latter is in the MDG
series of Reger chamber works, a consistently impressive undertaking, and the
main competition for CPO’s more sporadic survey. I also have a recording from
the Wührer Streichsextett, part of a complete Reger chamber music edition,
recorded in Heidelberg around 1970 and reissued on CD by Da Camera Magna, this
volume 77 518. Most of those reissues are placeholders at best, mediocre
performances remastered on the cheap. But the String Sextet is better than most,
with impressive definition to the counterpoint, and not too much color lost in
the transfer. This new recording is in a similar spirit, propulsive and clear,
and with good balance between the lines. The same performers can also be heard,
and seen, in a performance on the Maximum Reger DVD set (40:6). Though
the interpretation is largely the same in the two recordings, the ambiance and
recorded sound are very different. The DVD offers five channels, and while the
result is satisfyingly immersive, the brighter acoustic (we are shown a wood-paneled
hall) brings out the details more, especially in the cello parts. The sound on
the CPO recording, made in a small church, is warmer and more homogeneous. The string
sound has more weight, but at the cost of some impact from the accents. Even
so, this is an impressive release, competitive for both works, especially the rarely
heard Sextet.
This review appears in Fanfare magazine issue 44:1.
This review appears in Fanfare magazine issue 44:1.
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