Dave Mills
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Posts posted by Dave Mills
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I have just checked the Royal Albert Hall web site to see if there is an organ recital this October, and Cameron Carpenter is booked to perform there on Tuesday October 21st.
Dave Mills
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"Organistas" is an "impressionistic view behind the scenes into the fascinating world of the pipe organ".
"Creating the Stradivarius of Organs" is about the Mander organ at St Ignatius Loyola, New York.
Both these award-winning documentaries are now available to buy as a two-DVD set from Contemporary Arts Media.
More information on the News page, together with link to YouTube trailer for "Creating the Stradivarius of Organs".
RMM
(Cut and pasted since I could not get the reply function to work)
Thanks Rachel, these certainly will be worth buying. I'm still curious to know, however, why the short but informative appearance by Mander organs on R4's Questions Questions wasn't given any publicity!
Regards
Peter
I don't know if there is something strange about my setup but, if I view the NEWS section using FIREFOX 2.0.0.14, which is the browser I normally use, then the new item to which Rachel refers does not appear - the latest item is the one about the open day last November.
I have tried refreshing the page using <SHIFT> and the reload button to make sure I'm not accessing an old version in my own cache, but that makes no difference.
However, I have just tried using Internet Explorer, and I do then see this latest item.
Is anybody else experiencing this problem?
I think that 'LATEST from Mander Organs' is a read-only forum to which only the moderators can post, which may explain why Peter couldn't get reply to work.
Regards,
Dave
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I would also like to extend my thanks to Manders for a super day which my wife and I both enjoyed enormously.
Seeing the St. Paul's console has whet my appetite for a return visit there, once work on the organ is complete. (The last time we were at St. Paul's was for an organ demonstration in mid 2004, which we thoroughly enjoyed although we didn't get to hear the royal trumpets. We managed to time our visit to coincide with the period when they had been removed during the cleaning of the stonework, and most of the nave was covered in scaffolding!)
Thanks again. Yesterday was a day I'll look back on for a long time to come.
Dave Mills
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Although I don't post very often, I follow the discussions most evenings and am pleased the Discussion Board is up and running again.
I would also like to thank Mander's and NetBenefit for getting it going again.
Dave Mills
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I hope you are correct about the Birmingham Town Hall organ being recommissioned after completion of the building work. I just have a feeling this wonderful organ may become largely another museum piece now that there is so much preoccupation with the instrument in Symphony Hall. It would be an awful shame if that were to happen.
The Birmingham City web site has a section about the Town Hall renovations, (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=37460&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=27) and these pages definitely imply that the renovation of the organ is included in the plans for the building work, with the contract having been awarded to Mander Organs. Also, last time I walked past the Town Hall, albeit a year ago, the organ was mentioned on the information notices on the hoardings. It is some time since the Town Hall web pages were updated so I hope that the work on the organ is still going to go ahead. I certainly plan to attend its opening recital.
Dave Mills
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Ajj is correct. It is The Duchess of Kent we have to thank for the popularity of the Widor at Weddings and the wedding was at York Minster - although I guess organists with a 1 manual and no pedals might not be so thankful!
This reminds me of an anecdote told by Professor Ian Tracey at the opening recital of a school organ. He had been asked to play at a friend's wedding and the final piece was to be Widor's Toccata. It wasn't until he arrived at the church that he discovered that the organ didn't have pedals. He ended up having to get a friend to play the pedal line on the lower end of the manual!
As to the Widor being done to death, I've heard that piece many a time and it gives me a thrill every time I hear it. I never tire of it. Ian Tracey played it at the above recital and he played it a couple of weeks later at St. Georges Hall, Liverpool last May. A wonderful organ despite the audible wind leaks. I really hope it gets the restoration it deserves.
DM
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I am also disappointed to learn that the facade pipes are not going to be restored. In recent years, the auditorium has been beautifully restored, including the reinstatement of a decorative plaster cove which had been removed about 60 years previously and, following the stirling work by Mander Organs, the organ now sounds absolutely magnificent, both as a solo instrument and when accompanying an orchestra.
In view of all that, it seems a great shame, now that the organ case is going to be restored, to stop short of restoring the facade pipes, which would be the icing on the cake.
I cannot agree with the reason, given in the "Royal Albert Hall, CONGRATULATIONS" thread, that the pipes, if polished, would be too much of an attraction during events where the organ is of no consequence. If I am at an event in the Royal Albert Hall, I'll look at the organ if I want to whatever state the pipes are in, and if I don't want to then I wont! If the event is sufficiently interesting or enjoyable, I shan't be distracted by polished organ pipes!
I think that the present appearance of the pipes detracts from what is now a wonderful instrument and, in events where the organ is not in use, the appearance is the only impression the audience gets. The appearance of the unrestored pipes is more likely to distract me during an event, since I would be thinking of what they could have looked like.
I echo Mark Wimpress's hopes that those who made the decision will think again, so that the restoration of the hall can be truly finished.
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Thanks very much for your reply. I look forward to hearing the Royal Trumpets at a future visit to St. Paul's.
Dave Mills
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Last May I attended a demonstration, which I thoroughly enjoyed, of the organs in St. Pauls Cathedral.
The only disappointment was that I had hoped they would use the Royal Trumpets and John Scott told us that normally they would have done, but, unfortunately, they had been removed temporarily to enable cleaning of the stonework in the nave.
Does anyone know whether the trumpets are back in place yet, or when they are likely to be reinstated?
Thanks,
Dave Mills
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Now that the new Bulletin Board is up and running, I too would like to add my congratulations on the refurbishment of the RAH organ, having had the pleasure of attending all 3 concerts on the inaugural weekend. The only time I had previously heard the organ being played live was at a Classical Spectacular in November 2003, only a few weeks before it was closed for the refurbishment, and the difference between then and now is just amazing. I fully expected to be impressed at the opening concerts but the experience far exceeded my expectations. It was superb!
I have since heard the organ on many of the Proms. concerts broadcast on Radio 3 although, presumably due to the way the mics. are set up, it doesn't seem to make its presence felt, on radio, over the sound of an orchestra, the way it does when one is actually present in the Hall.
I definitely plan to visit London and the RAH again soon to hear the organ live again!
Once again, congratulations on a marvellous job.
Dave Mills
Cameron Carpenter
in The Organ
Posted
The RAH are now also taking bookings for an organ concert by John Scott on the following evening, Wednesday, October 22nd.
I had been wondering whether to go to the Cameron Carpenter concert to find out for myself what he's like but, as I don't live in London, I don't want to go on 2 consecutive nights so John Scott is the one I'll go for.
Dave Mills