‘Believe me, my Quintet Op 64 will make the rounds!’ declared Max Reger. Oh dear. As Parnassus Akademie’s pianist Kolja Lessing explains in his thoughtful booklet-notes, this big, Brahmsian thundercloud of a piece received only one performance in Reger’s lifetime, and recordings haven’t exactly been thick on the ground since. In the wake of his centenary year, though, perhaps the time is finally ripe for Reger’s very personal combination of muscular intellect and deeply Romantic spirit.

Parnassus Akademie’s approach is certainly Romantic. The sensuous way the four string players phrase together in the opening bars, their portamentos and their rich tone, quickly cancel any lingering prejudices about Reger the bespectacled dry-as-dust. I particularly liked the way the group manage to clarify the final unwinding of Reger’s counterpoint at the same time as creating a real sunset glow in the quintet’s closing bars. The balance of piano and strings is realistically captured, and Lessing is especially eloquent in the quieter passages – when casting a sort of magic sleep spell over the end of the second movement, for example.

Lessing steps out of the ensemble with cellist Michael Gross in Reger’s Fourth Cello Sonata: a polished account which might have benefited from a little more thematic characterisation (and urgency) in the outer movements. Gross’s sound is sweet but on the bland side, and with several recordings of this work available, I’d be inclined to try Alban Gerhardt and Markus Becker first (Hyperion, 4/08). But the Quintet is the big story here, and that can be unhesitatingly recommended.