Bruckner/Reger Motets
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Anton Bruckner, (Johann Baptist Joseph) Max(imilian) Reger
Label: Globe
Magazine Review Date: 11/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 49
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: GLO5160
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Os justi |
Anton Bruckner, Composer
Anton Bruckner, Composer Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay, Conductor |
Locus iste |
Anton Bruckner, Composer
Anton Bruckner, Composer Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay, Conductor |
Christus factus est |
Anton Bruckner, Composer
Anton Bruckner, Composer Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay, Conductor |
Pange lingua, 'Tantum ergo' |
Anton Bruckner, Composer
Anton Bruckner, Composer Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay, Conductor |
Ave Maria |
Anton Bruckner, Composer
Anton Bruckner, Composer Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay, Conductor |
Virga Jesse floruit |
Anton Bruckner, Composer
Anton Bruckner, Composer Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay, Conductor |
Vexilla regis |
Anton Bruckner, Composer
Anton Bruckner, Composer Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay, Conductor |
(8) Geistliche Gesänge |
(Johann Baptist Joseph) Max(imilian) Reger, Composer
(Johann Baptist Joseph) Max(imilian) Reger, Composer Netherlands Chamber Choir Uwe Gronostay, Conductor |
Author: Marc Rochester
These seven a cappella motets by Bruckner have been recorded many times before. As well they might. They are simple but heartfelt expressions of a deep, Christian faith and represent Bruckner at his most intimate and personal. On their rival disc Robert Jones and the choir of St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London find exactly the right degree of intimacy while the Naxos recording seems almost to whisper into the ears. The Netherlands Chamber Choir are an altogether larger group and there is a sense of opulence, almost grandeur in these richly expressive, beautifully prepared performances which, while making for impressive listening in their own right, don’t quite hit the mark.
With the Reger songs a dramatic change comes over the singers. It’s as if, released from the constraints imposed on them by Bruckner, they wallow in the sheer emotional and harmonic luxuriance of Reger’s swan-song: a copy of “Man lives and endures but for a little while” (the first song) was apparently found beside the hotel bed in which Reger suffered his fatal heart attack. Knowledge of this certainly lends poignancy to the work, but in any context it is unspeakably beautiful and here is a performance which reaches into the very heart of the music. Uwe Gronostay clearly relishes the broad, unambiguously romantic lines of these luscious songs and draws from this outstanding choir a sumptuous tone, gloriously blended and with a marvellous sense of cohesion which serves to make this a performance to cherish. The Globe recording sets it in a ravishing aural environment.'
With the Reger songs a dramatic change comes over the singers. It’s as if, released from the constraints imposed on them by Bruckner, they wallow in the sheer emotional and harmonic luxuriance of Reger’s swan-son
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