How convenient for all of Max Reger’s music for clarinet and piano to fit on a single disc–or, better still, to have all of it presented in excellent performances! In the expert hands and artistry of Ib Hausmann and Nina Tichman, Reger’s melodic diversions and ambitious structures never sound discursive, and his orchestra-like textures move in flexible yet tautly argued paragraphs. The musicians make the most out of the B-flat sonata Scherzo’s extreme mood swings and underline the slow movement’s autumnal lyricism with exquisite economy of expression and dynamic control.
Both Hausmann and Tichman weld their considerable techniques into a single entity and constantly match each other’s sonority, whether in the A-flat sonata’s tricky synchronized first-movement trills or in the way Hausmann’s hushed clarinet entrances seem to sneak out from the piano’s innards–such as in the F-sharp minor sonata’s gracious, Brahmsian finale. The smaller pieces get no less attention and loving care. Recommended.
