Max Reger’s Wagner arrangements for two pianos lack the coloristic variety of the orchestral originals, yet they make it possible for the composer’s motivic complexities to be grasped with more immediacy. Paul Dukas’ duo arrangement of the Tannhäuser Bacchanale allows listeners to compare both his and Reger’s two-piano deployment of passages common to both transcriptions. Yukie Nagai and Dag Achatz tend be pianistic rather than orchestral with their expressive nips and tucks. Tempos are generally governed from executional practicality rather than the orchestral momentum. While the pianists sometimes get bogged down in detail, their ensemble values allow no split chords or kerploppy attacks. In short, a fine, unusual disc.
