{"product_id":"eden-walker-reger-bach-variations-op-81-traume-am-kamin-cd","title":"Eden Walker - Reger: Bach Variations, Op. 81; Traume am Kamin (CD)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDetails: \u003c\/strong\u003eA new recording of two major Reger cycles,\r\nby a fast-emerging British piano talent.\r\n'To fathom his all-powerful might, no human\r\nmay accomplish' - this is the text, from a\r\nduet in Bach's Cantata BWV128, which Reger\r\ntakes as the subject of his Bach Variations,\r\nand it may fairly be advanced that Reger\r\naccorded Bach a comparably divine status.\r\nAt the age of just 31, Reger had by this stage\r\nassimilated not only Bachian counterpoint\r\nbut it's transformation through the ears and\r\nimaginations of Schumann and Brahms and\r\nothers, and he proceeds to treat the theme\r\nwith astonishing freedom, testing the\r\ntechnique of the performer while reaching\r\nfor the limits of the theme's musical\r\npossibilities over the course of 14 variations.\r\nThe cycle concludes with a mighty fugue - or\r\nfugues, on separate subjects (of Reger's own\r\ndevising, eventually welded with the Bach\r\ntheme). In his booklet essay, Eden Walker\r\nremarks that the final bars are 'some of the\r\nmost colossal and victorious of any in the\r\nentire piano repertoire.'\r\nBy contrast, as a salutary demonstration of\r\nReger's versatility, the Traume am Kamin\r\npresent him at his most relaxed and\r\nintimate, and anyone who has found it hard\r\nto warm to Reger will surely find in this cycle\r\na delightful entry-point to an often\r\nforbidding catalogue. 'Dreams by the\r\nFireside' - Reger's knotty chromatic\r\nharmony still underpins the progress of\r\nthese Romantic sketches, but now disguised\r\nby a touch of the 'lateness' that comes over\r\nmany artists towards the end of their lives\r\nor careers, whether or not they were aware\r\nof it. This cycle was Reger's final piano cycle\r\nbefore his death in 1916, aged 41, and the\r\nmood of the cycle is perhaps also marked by\r\na necessary escapism from the violent\r\nbloodshed around him.\r\nBorn in 1995, Eden Walker has become a\r\nspecialist in the ultra-virtuoso end of\r\nRomantic piano writing at the hands of\r\ncomposers such as Alkan, Busoni and\r\nGodowsky (and Reger). Based in Hamburg,\r\nhe now teaches at the Staatliche\r\nJugendmusikschule, as well as furthering his\r\nown studies and giving concerts across\r\nGermany and the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alliance Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49685908324652,"sku":"5029365103107","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0863\/2257\/7708\/files\/4335145-3177828.jpg?v=1724686045","url":"https:\/\/joseyrecords.com\/products\/eden-walker-reger-bach-variations-op-81-traume-am-kamin-cd","provider":"Josey Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}