Reger: Sonata for Viola/Clarinet and Piano in B flat major, Op. 107

A distinguished soloist and teacher, Janet Hilton is a professor at the Royal College of Music, London. Multiple prize-winner Jakob Fichert is an expert on Reger’s piano and chamber works

Prize-winning Dutch clarinettist Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer performs the two Sonatas, opus 49 and the Sonata No 3, opus 107 by Max Reger, accompanied by pianist Hans Eijsackers.

In 1894 Max Reger heard the clarinet sonatas that Brahms wrote for Richard Mühlfeld, a clarinettist he greatly admired, and was so taken with them that he decided to follow suit. The result was a series of thoughtful and challenging pieces. The first two works were written in 1900, and assigned the opus number 49. The third, opus 107, which is much more melodious and accessible, came about eight or nine years later.

The Dutch clarinettist Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer studied at the Juilliard School for Music on a Fulbright International Scholarship. In 1999 he made his debut in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and since then he has performed in many of the world’s greatest concert venues including the Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. Hans Eijsackers graduated at the Sweelinck Conservatory of Music in Amsterdam in 1992, where he studied with Koos Bons, Gerard van Blerk, Jan Wijn, and György Sebök. At the age of 13 he won the Rotterdam Piano-Driedaagse and Princess Christina Competition and in 1991 the European Piano Competition