Tanja Becker-Bender (violin), Konzerthausorchester Berlin/ Lothar Zagrosek Hyperion CDA 67892***

Edward Elgar wrote the longest violin concerto that has been taken up by leading soloists and is heard with any frequency. What chance, then, for the even longer, nearly hour-long, 1907 violin concerto by Max Reger? Does a composer renowned for the prolixity and complexity of his musical thought have any chance with a super-long violin concerto? The verdict so far has been in the negative. It's just too much of an ask for performers and audiences alike. Tanja Becker-Bender's impressively heroic traverse of Reger's musically verbose, chromatically slippery writing is undermined by the composer's indulgence in writing a piece that he himself once declared "is and remains a monster". The two earlier Romancesare still dilatory, but, with playing times of under 10 minutes each, are rather easier on everyone's stamina. See url.ie/4qdb