Reger - Cello Sonatas & Cello Suites
Alban Gerhardt (cello) & Markus Becker (piano)
Exceptionally rewarding … It would be difficult to find more persuasive advocates than cellist Alban Gerhardt and pianist Markus Becker, both of whom are steeped inside the idiom and know exactly...
Reger - Cello Sonatas & Cello Suites
Alban Gerhardt (cello) & Markus Becker (piano)
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Exceptionally rewarding … It would be difficult to find more persuasive advocates than cellist Alban Gerhardt and pianist Markus Becker, both of whom are steeped inside the idiom and know exactly...
About
Alban Gerhardt’s profound musicality and charisma have made him one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation. His ebullient personality is present in all his performances; he is nevertheless passionately committed to the intentions of the composer, and his recordings are always the product of an intense personal journey into every aspect of the music. Gerhardt’s espousal of Reger’s cello sonatas and suites is thus greatly welcomed. Pianist Markus Becker has released twelve discs of Reger’s keyboard music and is an ideal interpreter.
Reger’s cello sonatas and suites demonstrate every facet of this complex composer and individual. The composer’s passionate commitment to German Romanticism and his neo-Classical inspirations are both here: the great influence by Brahms and then the conscious shrugging-off of that mantle in the face of a complex and progressive stylistic advance. The sonatas span the duration of his career and culminate in the late unaccompanied suites, whose ambition to emulate J S Bach is both patent and largely fulfilled. The duo sonatas demand—and receive in this recording—not only a cellist of unusual powers of empathy and bravura, but also a first-rate pianist. This is fascinating and difficult repertoire, wonderfully performed and recorded.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
May 2008
Exceptionally rewarding … It would be difficult to find more persuasive advocates than cellist Alban Gerhardt and pianist Markus Becker, both of whom are steeped inside the idiom and know exactly how to present the music with
cogency and a sure sense of direction. The Four Cello Sonatas provide a fascinating overview of Reger’s musical development, moving from the Brahmsian warmth of the First to the highly expressionist and unsettling Fourth. With the aid of excellent sound, Gerhardt and Becker map out this
musical journey with wonderful sensitivity
2010
Max Reger is often blamed for thickness of musical texture, but although the piano-writing here is certainly prolix, the first two sonatas are imbued with a Brahmsian/classical romanticism and a virility which keeps the music thoroughly alive. The First Sonata surges passionately and heroically at the opening yet the touching second subject sighs very personally, the Adagio 'congran affetto' is gently lyrical and the finale is skittish.
The Second Sonata also sails off agitato and has a brilliant but more muted Scherzo and an engaging Trio. An Intermezzo replaces the slow movement and the finale is a graceful grazioso.
The last two sonatas are more mature, major works in which Reger has left Brahms behind and found his own voice. The highlight of No 3 is a substantial set of variations, Busoni's speciality, and the final sonata is even more impressive, with the cello introducing a kind of motto theme; the melodic writing in the secondary material is characteristically chromatic. There follows a whimsical, tarantella-like Scherzo, a warmly expressive slow movement and an engaging Allegretto con grazia finale.
The Cello Suites are in a direct line from Bach, although not collections of Baroque dances but three- or four-movement works. No 1 ends with a jolly fugue and No 2 includes both a Gavotte and a Gigue. Easily the finest is the Third with its richly sustained, intensely melodic Prelude, a brilliantly contrasted Scherzo and another appealing set of variations for its finale.
This is a stimulating package, very well played: both artists produce the passionate response demanded of them. Alban Gerhardt has a warm, resonant middle register and Markus Becker is well able to undertake the music's considerable virtuosity. The recording is vivid and clear.
April 2008
This is a stimulating package, very well played: both artists produce the passionate response demanded of them.
This is music that makes huge technical demands on the players, and the performances are all outstanding; this set represents an important act of rehabilitation for music that is almost unknown
12th April 2008
Alban Gerhardt sometimes struggles to project his cello above the heavy pianism of Markus Becker in the first two sonatas, but the later two (1904 and 1910) fare better. Here, and in the late trio of solo sonatas (Bachian to the core), Gerhardt's tone has lustre and his playing is intuitive.
