Reger is one of those composers more talked about than listened to—caricatured as a prolific writer of organ music with a penchant for dense musical textures. But he certainly wasn’t averse to a good tune: the two Romances abound in lush lyricism, while the magnificent A major Violin Concerto shows him continuing in the tradition of the violin concertos of Beethoven and Brahms. An unashamedly symphonic work, it’s nearly an hour long—around the same length as the nearly-contemporary Elgar Violin Concerto. No less a figure than Adolf Busch championed it—first performing it when he was just sixteen.

Alberto Ginastera was one of the most admired and respected musical voices of the twentieth century, who successfully fused the strong traditional influences of his national heritage with experimental, contemporary, and classical techniques. The two Cello Concertos are among his most innovative, brilliant and technically formidable compositions.

As part of Decca's acclaimed Entartete (German for Degenerate) series devoted to either suppressed or forbidden music during the first half of the 20th century, Franz Schreker's opera Die Gezeichneten (The Branded) is a period masterpiece. This story of a dying woman painter Carlotta betraying here longstanding faithful lover Alviano for a newer more physically attractive Tamare and the consequences that ensue is certainly intriguing. Lovers of expertly-crafted, infectiously beautiful orchestration however will simply rejoice in the massive 120+ member ensemble Schreker requires assembled here. All of the vocalists deliver energetic, passionate performances throughout and Decca's sound is state of the art. All in all a remarkable achievement!