Mannheimer Quartet - Reger - Chamber Music, Vol. 4: Piano Quartet Op. 133 / Three Duos (two violins) Op. 131b (1998)

With volume 4 we leave the string quartets and open with the Op. 133 piano quartet. Some melody manages to escape the congealed textures of the first movement's allegro con passione but after this all is well with a fluttering vivace, a great largo with the piano touching in the half-lights and a munificently splintery allegro con spirito in which Reger surely had Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in mind. The three duos for two violins each comprise two sections. They are neatly chiselled and will appeal to lovers of Bach's sonatas and partitas. These little 'chips' variously feature Vivaldian terpsichorean delight, the scent of the warmer south and lemon blossom, are suggestive of the solo violin in Holst Three Medieval Songs and catch the pulsating activity of Bach's double violin concerto and Brandenburgs
We round off this survey with the Piano Quartet op 113 (47.04). Its passionate auburn turbulence too often plunges into the mire of density - relenting occasionally but not often enough. The scherzo is flashy and Mephistophelean - but not a trace of Wedding Cake caprice. As expected (by now!) the larghetto is 'himmliche' - like the middle movement of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto while the finale's lurching splendour suggests a homage to Brahms (Piano Concerto No. 1) in the allegro energico.
The Serenade for two violins is not at all academic. Rather it breezes out of a world of wind-blown leaves with another tranced Schubertian larghetto (a still small voice but with a chill in air) and a Mozartian presto. The other Serenade has a vivace of Mozartian pastiche, a typically strong big larghetto of reflective poise (a movement almost twice as long as the outer movements) and a humorous presto borne on ponderous wings.