Up to 84% in savings when you subscribe to The Absolute Sound
Logo

Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Classical

Reger: Piano Concerto; Strauss: Burleske

Piano Concerto; Burleske
Reger: Piano Concerto; Strauss: Burleske
  • Music
  • Sonics
  • A
  • A
  • A

Max Reger has a reputation of being dour and rigorous, almost mathematical; after hearing this concerto, I would call him dramatic, rhetorical, convincing, and deeply romantic. It’s an odd approach, the way the first movement, Allegro Moderato, presents argument after argument about how passionate it is— from the opening bass drum roll to the cloud-dispelling second theme to its final desperate moments, it simply will not let go of head or heart. The Largo second movement is more stoic than steamy, but even there the calm explodes eventually. The Allegretto is lugubrious but not unsmiling. Hamelin and the orchestra roar through the Allegro Moderato; the Largo is pensive and spacious. In Richard Strauss’s winning Burleske, our pianist is a little earnest, even pushy, in the first half, but there’s some true romance and humor in the second. Hamelin’s technique is, as you probably know, phenomenal, and when he’s at his wizardly best, he makes the piano mutter, whisper, sing, and shout, poking fun at a stodgy clarinet at one point. The sound (Haus des Rundfunks, Berlin) is slightly constricted, but less opulence keeps murkiness at bay.

Read Next From Music

Adblocker Detected

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."