Search - Max Reger, Valery Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra :: Reger: Psalm 100; Variations & Fugue on a Theme of Mozart

Jauchzet! Jauchzet!

Thomas F. Bertonneau | Oswego, NY United States | 07/04/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Fashion long relegated the music of Max Reger (1873-1916) the margins of the repertory. Clear through the 1980s the music historians described him as the primary exponent of hypertrophied Germanic counterpoint, grafting clotted chromatic harmonies on expansions of the old baroque forms, such as passacaglia or fugue. In a widely read study of modern music, Wilfrid Mellers described the typical Reger score as manifesting, in performance, a mere "welter of sound." (Mellers was in fact trying to be sympathetic.) Reger indeed contended with similar criticism in his own day and once published his reply to some "Herr Doktor" who had savaged his music in a concert review. "Dear Herr Doktor," he wrote, "I am sitting in the smallest room in my house. I have your critique before me. Momentarily it will be behind me." In the last twenty years, the perception of Reger has changed: the received wisdom now (accurately, at last) sees him as the significant mediator between Austro-German composers such as Bruckner and Strauss, who liked to work on the largest scale, and early modernist composers such as Schoenberg and Hindemith, who favored intricate counterpoint and the continuous metamorphosis of pregnant motifs. The now prevailing consensus also holds Reger as the last great composer of fugues, who found in this "form" or "procedure" (or whatever it is) an inherent drama; conductors especially have come to understand that Reger's fugues are anything but "academic." Reger himself said that, while other composers only "made fugues" he "lived in his fugues." The versatile Valeri Polyansky has responded to the liveliness of Reger's colossal contrapuntal structures. The program of the new Chandos disc offers us the massive choral and orchestral setting of Psalm 100 and the (by now fairly oft-recorded) Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart, one of three similar sets for orchestra. (The other two take their material from Hiller and Beethoven; there are also two like-structured sets on themes by Bach and Telemann, both for piano, which some audacious composer might want to orchestrate.) Polyansky performs the Psalm in Hindemith's edition, which pares down Reger's allegedly thick textures and cuts some of the working-out of the double fugue. As the composition is an important and impressive one, it is nice to have it in good modern sound; a transparent acoustic theater helps greatly in clarifying the marvel of Reger's intricate polyphony. One wishes that Maestro Polyansky had invested his confidence in the composer's original conception. That said the conductor makes a convincing case for this symphonic, four-movement score involving not only the chorus and orchestra, but also a prominent organ solo. Reger's Psalm is the savage counterpart of Mahler's ecstatic "Veni, Creator Spiritus." It reminds one, too, of Brian's "Das Siegeslied" (Symphony No. 4), which sets Psalm 68. (Brian might have known Reger's score.) Both the opening "Jauchzet, Jauchzet!" and the concluding "Denn der Herr ist Freundlich" make rollicking good noise. The Russian State Capella sings with remarkable articulation. When Luther's hymn "Ein Feste Burg" appears in the stretto of the fugue as a counter-theme, the organ and brass might have been a tad more vehement, but Polyansky favors smooth textures. Polyansky's velvet approach works more effectively in the Mozart Variations, where it matches the geniality not only of Mozart's theme but also of Reger's suavely assured development of the material. Competition comes from Karl Boehm on DG and Eduard van Beinum on Music and Arts (both mono) and Franz-Paul Decker on Naxos (stereo), which couples the Hiller Variations. The van Beinum is part of a boxed set; the Boehm is the filler with Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. The Decker is inexpensive, but the Polyansky gives the only currently available recording of the Psalm. Recommended for the adventurous."

Unsuspected Treasure

T. Beers | Arlington, Virginia United States | 06/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Valery Polyansky and the Russian State Symphony have been recording a lot of stuff for Chandos and, so far, I've found their CDs to be a mixed bag. Blessed with Chandos's usually fabulous engineering, Polyansky's performances often are let down by ragged ensemble work and overall characterizations that seem to lack real distinction. So it was a very pleasant surprise to encounter this marvelous disc of first-rate Reger performances. Polyansky began as a distinguished choral conductor, so perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that the Russian conductor delivers the best recording yet of Reger's massively powerful setting of the 100th Psalm. But, more effectively than Horst Stein on a competing Koch CD, Polyansky manages to convey both massiveness and sprightliness in what is arguably Reger's greatest work for chorus and orchestra. (Think Bruckner, updated by Richard Strauss and Schoenberg, to get some idea of the sound of Reger's composition.) Polyansky performs a version of the Psalm as edited by Paul Hindemith, whose self-professed aim was to lighten and brighten some of Reger's densely polyphonic textures. Wise move: the piece achieves an incandescence in this version that eludes performances of the 'Urtext.' As for the Mozart Variations, Polyansky's achievement here is even more gratifying. This piece has always been Reger's most popular orchestral work and there are actually quite a few worthy CD competitors, including performances by Colin Davis (Philips), Karl Bohm (DG), Horst Stein (Koch), and Heinz Bongartz (Berlin Classics). But Polyansky projects a wealth of orchestral detail and gorgeous color that bests them all. Each variation is memorably characterized and, even if Polyansky's orchestra is not as distinguished as, say, the Bavarian Radio Symphony (Davis/Philips), the sum of the parts/projection of the whole by Polyansky & Co. will have you cheering. (And maybe wondering why Reger is played so seldom in American concert halls.) Now why can't Polyansky and his orchestra consistently manage revelatory performances like these when playing Russian music? A puzzlement! The recorded sound is exemplary in its clarity, richness and depth."