Organ Fireworks (again0

[Peter Allison]

Well, at the grand old age of 45 (well I do feel older most of the time), I have got back into buying cd's again. I was listning to a couple of Christopher Herricks wonderfull "Firework" series and thought, mmmmmmmmmmm I do'nt have the full set ( 10 discs) , so I persuaded the distaff side to buy the others for xmas. I had a sneak preview of 2 of them, and I must admit they sounded wonderful even tho I could not play them as loud as I would if I was on my own. I must also thank those who responded to my question on the complete Bach sets , and have plumped for the Peter Hurford set, as I have volumes 1 and 5 already. I know it probably is not the "best" around, but to my ears it sounds good and the organs are not to bad.

Peter

[Guest stevecbournias]

[pcnd5584]

Well, at the grand old age of 45 (well I do feel older most of the time), I have got back into buying cd's again. I was listning to a couple of Christopher Herricks wonderfull "Firework" series and thought, mmmmmmmmmmm    I do'nt have the full set ( 10 discs) , so I persuaded the distaff side to buy the others for xmas. I had a sneak preview of 2 of them, and I must admit they sounded wonderful even tho I could not play them as loud as I would if I was on my own. I must also thank those who responded to my question on the complete Bach  sets , and have plumped for the Peter Hurford set, as I have volumes 1 and 5 already. I know it probably is not the "best" around, but to my ears it sounds good and the organs are not to bad.

Peter

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You really ought to purchase a CD with Wolfgang Rubsam playing - there is a particular one which I have in mind. I have no idea what the playing is like, but it is worth the money for the cover picture alone. I belive that he is wearing a DJ and sporting an enormous handlebar moustache. His hair and the moustache are dyed in an alternating piebald effect of white-blond and black.... He has, in short, the appearance of a gay circus-ringmaster who has recently taken to using controlled substances.. Hmmmmmmmmm.

[CT_Worcester]

I must admit I am a bit suspicious of performances by "star" players. Maybe I am being unfair, but it is almost as if the temptation to make a mark becomes too much.

 

For example, I once heard Jean Gillou play the Mozart Fantasia in F minor at an unbelievable pace. Also Pierre Cochereau, in his recording of the Vierne Symphonies, takes the Chorale from the Second Symphony at a tremendous lick - faster than any other performer I have heard.

[pcnd5584]

....Also Pierre Cochereau, in his recording of the Vierne Symphonies, takes the Chorale from the Second Symphony at a tremendous lick - faster than any other performer I have heard.

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I recommend that you purchase a copy of his early recording Les "Incunables" - now re-released on a double CD [sOCD 177/8] from the Carbou's Solstice site. This performance comes in at 8' 48". (Mine is 7' 27", for comparison).

 

Personally, I think that it is the best performance which I posses on CD. The discs also include excellent performances of the Liszt Ad nos and Dupré's Symphonie-Passion. The recordings were made shortly after his appointment as Titulaire, in 1955.

 

Apart from the slightly poisonous tuning of the (then) un-restored C-C, these discs give a good idea of his skill as a performer and an interpreter and the sound of the C-C before its long restoration. (It does not sound like that now, either from downstairs or in the loft!)

 

Cochereau's interpretations are also pretty accurate, by the way!

 

When he did depart from indicated speeds, he usually did it with good reason - not just because he could! In the case of his recordings of Dupré's Trois Préludes et Fugues (Op. 7), he discussed in detail his plans with the composer - who gave his unqualified blessing to the alterations of tempi.

 

However, I do agree that some recorded performances (yes - even by PC!) are too fast - Wayne Marshall and Christopher Herrick both spring to mind. I recall hearing a performance (from Westminster Abbey) of Brewer's Marche Heroïque after a R3 Evensong broadcast. Herrick played it at a ridiculous pace. I cannot remember whether or not it was accurate, but it certainly was not particularly edifying - or musical.

[Vox Humana]

You really ought to purchase a CD with Wolfgang Rubsam playing - there is a particular one in mind. I have no idea what the playing is like, but it is worth the money for the cover picture alone. I belive that he is wearing a DJ and sporting an enormous handlebar moustache. His hair and the moustache are dyed in an alternating piebald effect of white-blond and black.... He has, in short, the appearance of a circus-ringmaster who has recently taken to using controlled substances in large quantities. Hmmmmmmmmm.

That'll be this one:

[pcnd5584]

Oh yes - it certainly will....

[Pierre Lauwers]

Oh yes - it certainly will....

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.....And on a splendid late-romantic with that. Dudelange is a gem.

 

Pierre

[pcnd5584]

....and with a splendid late-Romantic moustache - which, incidentally, can be heard on the last track....