Max Reger – A Musical Colossus

“Max Reger was the last giant in music. I am inconceivable without him.” Paul Hindemith

“…I consider him a genius” Arnold Schoenberg

11 May 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Max Reger. In his lifetime he was a superstar who fascinated and repelled listeners, friends and colleagues alike with his compositions. He was regarded as one of the greatest composers of his time and celebrated as the “new Bach”, but also met with incomprehension. Schoenberg, Hindemith and Prokofiev recognised a genius in him; Stravinsky found him insufferable.

Reger was extraordinary in many respects. His short life was overshadowed by a mania for work, success and disappointment, illness and exuberance. In just 25 working years he composed more than 240 works. He wrote as if in a frenzy: one piece after another. He drank to excess and devoured incredible portions of meat. His gigantic workload led to several breakdowns.

The film traces the life of an immoderate man who subordinated his entire existence to music. Through letters and diary entries it offers insights into Max Reger’s thoughts and feelings and sheds light on his relationship with his wife and his colleagues. It also features the previously unreleased recording by the Dresden Staatskapelle under Christian Thielemann, who in 2011 recorded Reger’s “Romantic Suite” after texts by Eichendorff. In the very place where the piece was premiered in 1911 under Ernst von Schuch.