Max Reger: String Trios & Piano Quartet

Max Reger was remarkably prolific, despite the relative brevity of his career. His music exudes the late Romantic spirit, leaning precariously towards modernism. That dichotomy regularly surfaces in his chamber music, which this disc of the string trios and piano quartet illustrates beautifully. The performers are the Trio Lirico and pianist Detlev Eisinger, whose performances elicit the rich complexities as well as the clarity of Reger’s writing. They open with the free-flowing second Trio, Op.141b, at the heart of which are the gorgeous variations of the Andante, achingly expressed here and instantly refreshed by the brisk ensuing fugue. Then there’s the ghostly opening of the first Trio, Op.77b, a mood quickly dispelled by the heated drama of movement proper and the expressive freedom these performers bestow on it. The Piano Quartet, altogether denser, brings Brahms to mind, but once again reveals a composer whose star deserves to shine more brightly.