Is Reger's VC now a repertoire piece?

[Alan Howe]

Following the Hyperion recording of Reger's VC issued at the beginning of this year, two more new recordings have been announced, one by cpo...
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Max-Reger-1873-1916-Violinkonzert-op-101/hnum/3680896
...and one by Ondine...
http://www.mdt.co.uk/reger-violin-concerto-chaconne-benjamin-philharmonic-orchestra-hannu-lintu-ondine.html
So, is this work now becoming a repertoire piece?

[Mark Thomas]

Recorded repertoire, yes, it would seem so. Concert Hall? I doubt it.

[EdwardHan]

I think the piece is to hard to be a repertoire piece at least in concert halls.

[Alan Howe]

Well, the Elgar is just as difficult....

[Gareth Vaughan]

And, I would say, almost as hard to get to grips with - at least, I find it so.

[Alan Howe]

I'd say they were on a par as far as difficulty is concerned. Both seem to me the ne plus ultra of the romantic VC...

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Whether the Reger Vn Concerto is becoming a repertoire piece is exactly the question I've been mulling over during the last few days ever since I saw the notice of forthcoming releases from both CPO and Ondine (and I wouldn't have expected the latter to be issuing discs of Reger - but good for them in doing so!).

I confess to utterly loving the work. (Hum, why 'confess'? - Nothing to be ashamed of here!) I already had 3-4 versions sitting on my shelves. Then along came the Tanja Becker-Bender recording on Hyperion (wonderful!), and shortly afterwards followed by Kolja Lessing in the version edited by Busch. So those two had to be added. Ach, my poor finances, for the new Ondine has already been ordered...and I dare say the CPO will have to be added.

A 'chain' of Reger Vn Concerto discs does suggest that, yes, it is fast becoming a repertoire piece. But I'm not going to arrive at that conclusion.

First, I defy anyone to go round humming the piece for it is an extraordinarily complex (and long) piece. 'Hummability' would seem, for good or ill, a necessary condition of a piece being likely to fill seats in concert halls. Although I've listened to the work many many times I find it difficult to 'hold' the work in my head, and part of the joy in it is surrendering yourself to Reger and following through the musical progression of the piece. It is awesome!

Second (and I can only guess here for my only 'instrument' is the gramophone) the concerto must be extraordinarily hard for anyone to learn - apart that is for such superb musicians as Busch. Haven't checked the details of the story, but I remember reading in the magnificent Tully Potter book on Adolf Busch - in my view both volumes are required reading - that Reger was astonished when the teenage Busch played the concerto to him without a score.

Perhaps we are far more familiar with the Elgar? Although a magnificent work, it is surely more open and accessible, more 'hummable', and more likely to fill seats in the hall (or broadcast).

So I'd guess the Reger concerto is a piece for 'special' occasions, and not likely to be everyday fare for most aspiring soloists. Again, I guess the chances of a 'fluff' in a performance are far more likely with Reger than Elgar? Fluffs and wobbles can be corrected in recordings, but not in the concert hall. And finally I can easily imagine a poor violinist doing a fluff in a live performance of the Reger...and after that it would be downhill all the way. Whereas a fluff, wobble, or mistake in Elgar could be more easily corrected?

Hence - and forgive the long meandering ramble - for all these reasons I doubt if Reger will become standard repertoire. Besides Reger has got the (completely unjustified) reputation for being indigestible.

[Alan Howe]

Fascinating thoughts from a fellow-enthusiast, Peter! Thanks!

[FBerwald]

repertoire piece? I hope not! The Raff No. 1 would be welcome anyday!!!!!

[eschiss1]

that seems every bit a non sequitur.  Their positions in music history are important but different (Reger, for instance, as seen by Schoenberg- I think he had a point here - belonged to that generation that no longer saw Brahms and Schumann, and Liszt and Wagner, as mutually exclusive camps, and used what he could from both of them.  The opening of the Reger violin concerto shows up in one of Schoenberg's essays- Brahms the Progressive, I think- for (at least one) reason related to that... - and in Structural Functions of Harmony too...)

[mbhaub]

The lack of Reger's music in American concerts halls is no surprise - we don't hear Bruckner much either. Our loss, since a lot of the orchestral music is really wonderful. Something like the Ballet Suite or any of his orchestral variation suites would be a welcome relief from the constant replaying of standard repertoire. But -- I just don't get the violin concerto. It is too long, too uneventful, and dare I say it - boring? It's a great example of note-spinning for nothing. There is no tension, no drama...even the orchestration is relatively dull compared to his best work. It's easy to hear why it isn't, and never will be, a repertoire item. Only in the last couple of minutes does the concerto waken from a stupor and show some excitement. Too little, too late. I know the Elgar has its distractors, but for me it's on a wholly different plane. Elgar's may be difficult compared to Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Beethoven, but once you "get it", you can't live without it. Just like the symphonies. I don't think the Reger will ever have that effect. For 40 years, since the Pfitzner VC made an appearance on Vox records, I've been hoping it would become more popular, but alas, it's even less known than Reger.

[Alan Howe]

The problem with the Pfitzner VC, IMHO, is the silence of the soloist in the slow movement. Inexplicable.

I agree about the Elgar VC - can't live without it. But I feel the same about Reger's wonderful, autumnal masterpiece too...

[minacciosa]

I like the Reger concerto, and there must be something great about it because it has attracted great players to it and it keeps coming up for recording. That said, I think the Pfitzner is a superior work. It has memorable material that is masterfully integrated and worked out. It has an interesting harmonic vocabulary, some striking orchestral effects, and a very broad emotional spectrum. The slow "movement" is more like an interlude, and its presence makes one think that despite its title the piece is actually a Symphony for violin and orchestra, which would explain the thorough motive work. There are lots of fine violin concertos, but not so many that have motivic workmanship as seen here (Brahms comes to mind immediately in that respect), which is another thing that separates it from the Reger. I've just listened to Pfitzner again with Edith Peinemann, and am convinced that Pfitzner could be a repertoire piece, if todays players were intrepid enough to program it. (Good luck with that; most of them are highly incurious.) Peinemann also made what I think is the best recording of Reger's Violin Concerto. (I have it, but don't know if it's still available.)

[eschiss1]

mbhaub in describing the Reger could somewhat be describing the Elgar as I experience it when I hear Nigel Kennedy's recording of it. My opinion of the Elgar only started improving when I heard, as I recall, Campagnoli's recording (I still haven't heard either of Menuhin's, for some reason.) I expect neither is exactly conductor/orchestra/performer-proof relatively-speaking - or relatively speaking immune to taste. (Neither is the Reger my favorite work of his, at this point, I agree; of his orchestral works that would go to his Prolog to a Tragedy - avoid Metzmacher's horribly cut performance like the plague!!! ; Segerstam does very well by this work - or the late violin sonatas, string quartets, the piano and string trios...)

[eschiss1]

As to Pfitzner, the 3 Palestrina Preludes -will- be performed in Munich on December 23rd, anyway, and I think his Liebesmelodie is also scheduled somewhere else in the 2012-13 season, if not the violin concerto anywhere; likewise some Reger works (mostly organ works, unsurprisingly, though I think I noticed ) seem to be scheduled here and there... (and a Reger arrangement, and a work by Karg-Elert, will be at one of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players concerts this coming season... )