In 1904 the firm of Simrock approached Max Reger with the offer of an exclusive contract. Reger was clearly flattered by the Berlin publisher’s interest but unwilling to relinquish his relationships with other publishers. He did agree, however, to transcribe some of the songs by his revered Johannes Brahms for solo piano. The first group of 14 songs was completed in 1905‑06 and an additional group of 14 six years later, with the entire set brought out by Simrock in four volumes. Listeners will be grateful to Rudolf Buchbinder for bringing these artful arrangements, each a faithful reflection of the original, to our attention.

It is in the quieter of Reger’s wide-ranging selection that these interpretations are at their most compelling. Songs such as ‘An die Nachtigall’, the ‘Sapphische Ode’, ‘Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer’ and the celebrated ‘Wiegenlied’ speak with a hushed poise and relaxed beauty. The varied textures of ‘Vergebliches Ständchen’ are vivid and the polyphony of the ‘Minnelied’ is exquisitely delineated. Meanwhile, the ‘Ständchen’ from Op 106 exudes vibrant character.

The louder and quicker songs, especially those with a great deal going on in the accompaniment, are less appealing. Buchbinder’s understandable efforts to foreground the vocal line at all costs lead him to force the sound of his instrument, in this case a Steinway D with what sounds to be an extraordinarily close microphone placement. In songs such as ‘Der Schmied’, ‘Über die Heide’, ‘Der Jäger’ and the beginning of ‘Auf dem Kirchhofe’, Buchbinder’s sound acquires a strident and, in the context of Brahms’s voluptuous harmonies, raucous edge.

That said, it is a pleasure to encounter this unusual repertoire, approached with sympathy and understanding.