Search - Marcel Dupre, Joseph Rheinberger, Spoken Word :: Dupré: Symphony in G minor; Rheinberger: Organ Concerto No. 1 in F - The Organ in Royal Albert Hall, London

The organ&orchestra coupling at its best

N. Daniele Pietro | Milano, MI Italy | 12/20/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"People who love, as it is my case, the Saint-Saens organ symphony always have had a hard time trying to find something else similar. Not that there's not a choice, but the other pieces available on the market (Guilmant's First, Widor's Op.85) are mainly showpieces for the great French symphonic organs' possibilities, not to mention the virtuosity of the performers. So they're actually concertos for organ&orchestra, not real symphonies. This one is an exception because the orchestral writing is really distinguished and, above all, there's a real integration between the organ and the orchestra. I found the first movement especially amazing , because Dupre' scores the orchestra as if it was an organ (you almost seem to hear the pedals) and vice versa. The rest is also very good , and the finale is rightly thunderous. Michael Murray , besides being a great organist, studied with Dupre' and wrote an essay on him, so his performance rightly claims to be definitive. The massive Royal Albert Hall organ really comes out well here. I want also to point out the effective and refined contribution of the RPO under Ling's direction. Telarc delivers a first-class recording of a technically challenging piece. The Rheinberger concerto mostly belongs to the showpiece category, but it doesn't suffer from the often excessive flamboyance tipical of the French organists so it's a pretty enjoyable piece. All in all, even if no piece can reach the Saint-Saens 3rd's overwhelming grandeur, this is a must-buy."

Michael Murray and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

N. Daniele Pietro | 01/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording is magnificent! Michael Murray is one of the greatest organists today and delivers a fine performance. The Royal Philharmonic is a marvelous orchestra and when the two subjects meet, we have a marvelous recording. The Dupre Symphony is one of Dupre's masterworks. The composition is very colorful as far as instrumentation and registration is concerned. It is also very exciting and bouncy. The organ is integrated perfectly with the orchestra. The Rheinberger concerto offers a less formal and more showy type of piece. The work is filled with exciting melodies and the final movement is especially memorable. As for the performers, Murray gives an exciting rendition of both works with his usual enthusiasm. Jahja Ling also treats the pieces with great enthusiasm and impetus. I highly recommend this recording to organ lovers."

The sound from the stone

N. Daniele Pietro | 07/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To play this concerto by Rheinberger, a little masterpiece in his type, fresh and brilliant work, on the organ of the Albert Hall, may be as a Ferrari motor put inside a delightful little old car... The suspensions are your domestic woofers: expecially with the great final major cord concludes the cadenze, in the third movement. Here Murray does not endure: the 64 foot cement-pipes slip from his hands, and all the other recordings of it seem, by comparison, accordion's accompaniments... Something like that happened to Virgil Fox, who played here (on a famous RCA recording) the "Little" fugue of J S Bach, with the acoustic result of a running train... Do not lose, good look! Roberto Ranieri"