Max Reger’s organ works are emblematic for the composer, not only
or always in a good way. Reger is perceived as an organist-composer,
and organ music builds the bridge from the catholic romantic composer
Reger to Johann Sebastian Bach, with whom Reger is so often associated
and whose music Reger made piano transcriptions of or based his
compositions on. But his organ music, of which he composed unseemly
amounts, also has the reputation for being dry, at least to ears
that don’t belong firmly to organ music aficionados. A little
bit can go a long way. Although I like Reger more often than not,
I admit that I’ve listened to Rosalinde Haas’s 12 CD set of Reger’s
complete organ works (MDG, not counting the transcriptions) only
a select few times. The arrival of volume nine of Naxos’ traversal
of the Reger organ works (I’ve missed or ignored the preceding
volumes) has provided the right excuse to dust Haas’ set off again.
Naxos’ recordings are divided among different
organists (with organist Wolfgang Rübsam as producer), which is
a fine idea (also used for their Scarlatti-on-piano cycle) that
allows each performer to focus sufficiently on the select works
they are to record. Josef Still performs on the Johannes Klais
Organ of the cathedral of Trier where he is
the organist. The first six of the dozen op.65 Pieces, six Choral
Preludes, the Chorale Fantasia “Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn”
op.40/2, and the “God Save the Queen” Variations and Fugue are
included on his recital. In brief: Haas is faster, Still indulges.
Haas chooses a brighter registration, Still a more colorful one.
Reverb with Haas’ Frankfurt organ is minimal, Still’s,
considerable. The 2008 recording of Naxos is very fine
and competitive (though not better) with MDG’s 20 year old sound.
Perhaps because I am not completely engaging myself
with the music, I find the fleeter, more virtuosic performances
of Mme. Haas slightly more to my liking (more exciting) than the
richer, more nuanced and varied Still performances. Then again,
in this particular repertoire they don’t compete, because it takes
five of Haas’ discs to cobble together Still’s recital. For those
who wish to have just a little Reger on organ, the varied mix
of pieces on Still’s disc is particularly attractive; not the
least for including the attractive “God Save the Queen” Variations
and Fugue. The Haas discs - vol.8 contains “God Save the Queen”
- are currently difficult to get, leaving Naxos without competition
for the time being although MDG will surely re-release their set
once they’ve worked their way through all of Reger’s œvre, which
they seem intent on doing. If Naxos’s other performers perform at Josef Still’s level,
Haas may yet get competition in this field, though.
Jens F Laurson
