Max Reger Cello

Das Streichquartett hat eine perfekt austarierte, homogene Besetzung und gilt nicht von ungefähr als die "Königsgattung" der Kammermusik. Was passiert, wenn sich nun eine Klarinette hinzugesellt? Damit trifft ein Blasinstrument mit ganz verschiedenen Registern hinzu. Mit ihnen kann es hervortreten und sich begleiten lassen, sich dann aber ganz plötzlich ins Stimmgewebe abtauchen und für überraschende klangliche Abwechslung sorgen.

Othmar Schoeck est né en 1886 à Brunnen (Suisse). Fils du peintre Alfred Schoeck, Othmar fut d'abord élève au Conservatoire de Zurich, puis passa quelque temps à Leipzig, où il étudia la composition avec Max Reger (1873-1916). À son retour en Suisse, il connut une intense activité pratique dans la direction d'orchestre, et fut en particulier le chef d'orchestre des concerts symphoniques de Saint-Gal, occupation qui fit peu à peu place à l'activité créatrice.

Max Reger (1873–1916) is noted for his devotion to Johann Sebastian Bach. In the words of musicologist Massimo Mila, Reger was an “outstanding crafter of chamber music, who loved restoring ancient contrapuntal forms: fugues, passacaglias, chaconnes, suites, etc.” His 3 Suites for Viola Solo Op.131d – completed a year before his death – exemplify this contrapuntal restoration and reinvention. They belong to a collection of works with an ancient feel in the style of Bach (Op.131), which also comprises music for solo violin, for two violins and for cello. The three solo viola suites all emphasise the polyphonic nature of an instrument that to this day is still considered monodic.

Max Reger (1873-1916) was an astonishingly prolific composer, amassing a total of well over a thousand works in a short career. His earliest compositions were lieder and chamber works, and it was the latter genre that inspired Reger to compose his finest music. His mature output reflected both the Baroque revival and modernist tendencies, with two of the most lasting influences upon his style being Brahms and Bach.

“A talent to reckon with: poised, committed, graceful and spirited,” is how the Los Angeles Times has described the Russian-American cellist Nina Kotova. Her Warner Classics catalogue already includes an album of sonatas by Rachmaninov. It is now joined by a programme of German Romantic music which she recorded with the Brazilian-born pianist José Feghali, a laureate of the Van Cliburn Competition who died aged just 53 in 2014. Spanning 65 years of musical history, the recital comprises works by Schumann and Brahms, who were close friends, and by Max Reger. He drew inspiration for his Suite No. 2 for solo cello, composed in 1914, from Pablo Casals’s advocacy of Bach’s solo suites.