Clarinet Quintet Op. 146 / String Quartet Op. 109

"The performers are principals with the Berlin Philharmonic, and that speaks volumes about their musical instinct, collectively and individually. Their sense of line is impeccable and their feeling for Reger's dreamy and sometimes mist-shrouded canvases is never off the mark. Intonation and ensemble are never in question. This is music that you will have to spend time with to really appreciate...it is unquestionably exquisite and loaded with fine moments."
- American Record Guide (Carter) July/August 2001

"...Their sense of line is impeccable and their feeling for Reger's dreamy and sometimes mist-shrouded canvases is never off the mark. Intonation and ensemble are never in question. This is music that you will have to spend time with to really appreciate...there are even passages that may find their way to the deepest recesses of your memory - most notably the scherzo of the quintet and the exquisite slow movement of the quartet."
- American Record Guide(Michael Carter) July/August 2001

"Naxos has also been active in the realms of chamber music, most memorably with works by Max Reger. The opening of Reger's 1909 E flat major quartet is characteristic, with its aching modulations and long-breath phrases. The breadth and expressive intensity of the slow movement is offset by a fugal finale, all nine minutes of it, and a fine display of Regerian wit and contrapuntal ingenuity. But for many people the real draw of the CD will be the lovely Clarinet Quintet of 1915, wistful music soaked in Reger's very individual brand of chromaticism, which is sympathetically performed by the clarinettist Wenzel Fuches with the members of the Philharmonia Quartett Berlin."
- The Independent (Rob Cowan) April 13, 2001