Search - Conte, Mussorgsky, Wagner :: Magic: Peter Richard Conte at the Wanamaker Organ

The first commercial recording of the Wanamaker...

Bob Zeidler | Charlton, MA United States | 05/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...Grand Court Organ in nearly 40 years...



How well I remember that earlier recording of nearly 40 years ago! On the Command Classics label founded by Enoch Light, it featured Virgil Fox playing organ transcriptions much like the ones on this new "Magic" release. At the time of its release, I lived close enough to New York City to be a regular late-night listener to Bill Watson's WNCN show, "Listening with Watson."



Bill Watson was nothing if not an iconoclast in the field of classical music broadcasting. If he liked something, REALLY liked something, one could expect him to "play it again, Bill." So, one spring evening in 1965, when he came upon that Virgil Fox recording of the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, he played Fox's transcription of Bach's "Komm Süsser Tod" (Come, Sweet Death). Twice. And I was simply transported into a realm of sonic bliss, literally reduced to tears by its ethereal beauty (as had the original audience been in 1939, when he premiered the transcription at a celebrated concert in the John Wanamaker [Philadelphia] store).



I literally wore out the first two LP copies of that release, managing to hold on to the third copy to this day (acquired before Light sold off the Command Classics label and catalogue to MCA Records, a much larger label that turned out to be a not-so-good steward of what at the time had been an excellent series of titles). A number of years later (somewhere toward the end of the first decade of CDs), licensed rights to the album were acquired by Bainbridge Records, who released a pretty good - but not perfect - transfer of the LP on CD.



Fast forward to 2001. The John Wanamaker flagship Philadelphia store, complete with Grand Court Organ, has long since been acquired by Lord & Taylor. By 1989, Lord & Taylor determined that this national treasure of an instrument was in such a state of disrepair that it required a "top to bottom" restoration. By the spring of 2001, more than enough of the restoration had been completed such that a new recording, representing its current state, would not misprepresent the instrument's true capabilities. (Restoration, in the meantime, is ongoing.) It is decided, by someone, and wisely so, that the instrument is worthy of being recorded by a label dedicated to fine recordings of pipe organs. Such a label is Dorian, one of a small handful of labels which specialize in pipe organ recordings of high quality.



This "Magic" release is the outcome of those years of effort. And a splendid release it is. The Wanamaker organ's current organist, Peter Richard Conte, is made very much in the "Virgil Fox mold" in terms of his transcriptions of works originally meant for other instruments and ensembles, including, of course, full symphonic orchestras.



The transcriptions on this release reflect that commonality of interests. Like Fox's recording back then, Conte's recording contains some fine transcriptions of orchestral Wagner and Elgar, as well as Mussorgsky, Dukas and Nicolai. Of all of these, perhaps the transcription of Mussorgsky's "Night on the Bare Mountain" best demonstrates the "symphonic" capabilities of this finest of "grand civic organs": the pipe organ representations of the various orchestral choirs are quite uncanny.



"Pride of place," though, must go to the final track on this release: Conte's transcription of the "Nimrod" variation of Elgar's "Enigma Variations." In its hushed lushness, it is as close as one can come to Fox's "Komm Süsser Tod" transcription without actually duplicating it. Like the Bach work on Fox's album, it is the one piece that easily justifies having this splendid album.



The organ sounds better than ever (at least, so far as this unrepentent pipe organ junkie is concerned). The technical steps required to achieve the recording are well-documented in a huge 60-page booklet (which also documents the history of the organ, and "grand civic organs" in America, with about 20 pages dedicated to simply describing the complement of pipes, stops and console). Fair warning, though: You'd better have a pretty good sound system if you wish to hear the full range of tones and dynamics of which this instrument is capable!



Despite the steps taken to record these works during "store closed" time in the wee small hours of the morning, there is a slight audible hiss in the background. I had earlier heard this hiss on the Bainbridge CD transfer of the Fox album, and had tossed it off as simply "a bad transfer." But the hiss is real, despite these modern-technology efforts of Dorian, and I think I know what it is (even though it doesn't seem to be mentioned in that huge booklet): It is nothing more (nor less) than the air-handling equipment needed to supply air to the near-30,000 pipes of the world's largest pipe organ. It adds a touch of realism, a reminder, that this instrument represents the apogee of the organ-builders' art. (I've since gone back to that Bainbridge transfer with an improved sense of respect, realizing that we can't have one [the sound of this magnificent instrument] without the other [the air-handling that is part and parcel of its making].)



Some small amount of restoration still remains, and it is clear from the notes that Lord & Taylor is fully committed to bringing the instrument back to a level that represents its full glory. What better way to celebrate that completion than to have Conte record, again on the Dorian label, the one piece of Fox's that bowled so many people over and reduced them to puddles on the floor: Bach's "Komm Süsser Tod." I can't wait.



Really, I just can't.



Bob Zeidler"

A long awaited return to the spotlight

Paul Buford | Southwestern New Jerrsey | 11/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Living in Southwest New Jersey, less than a hour from the unique instrument, I have experienced this instrument first hand for many years.Unfortunately, first hand was the only satisfactory way to experience it. Only a few recordings have ever been made. There is an important recording with Virgil Fox from the early 1960's, and some private label recordings with Keith Chapman, the Wanamaker Organist until his death in the 1980's. Neither were very satisfactory sonically speaking.So this sparkling clear digital recording made after business hours, is a welcome gift for organ lovers all over the world.Dorian Records deserves a great deal of the credit, but the executives of Lord & Taylor deserve a standing ovation. As the booklet with the recording indicates, the organ has been treated as a white elephant for years. Not long after Lord & Taylor acquired the store they arranged a 90th anniversary concert for the instrument during store hours (a first in over a half century!) I was there, and so were the L & T executives! There enthusiasm and pride were unfeigned, and their money and cooperation since have shown it. They have cooperated with the volunteer organization which oversees and promotes the restoration and concertizing on the instrument. As the booklet indicates, architectural changes were made to enhance the organ's sound, and the famous Sound & Light Holiday show in the Grand Court has been modified to allow the organ to remain visible (and audible) during the Christmas season.You should buy this recording. It is wonderful on its own merits. But you should also buy it to encourage and support all the people who are working to restore this Emperor of Instrument to its Imperial glory.And oh yes, if you really want to find out just how good this recording is. Come to Lord & Taylor's (right next door to City Hall) in Philadelphia, any day Monday through Saturday at 11:15 and 5:15pm, and you can hear it for yourself. Just as Philadelphians have for over 90 years!"

Magical recording

Robert Badger | Philadelphia, PA | 09/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a former resident of Philadelphia, this organ has always had a special place in my heart. I am an organist, and during my four years in the City of Brotherly Love, I would journey often to Lord & Taylor to hear this magical instrument come alive. I heard Frederick Hohman perform there, as well as Carlo Curley. I still treasure the recordings that Keith Chapman made. The Chapman recordings are wonderful, though the sound is often from ideal.In this Dorian recording, Peter Richard Conte and the Dorian engineers have accomplished the impossible. The recorded sound is flawless. It is almost as if one is actually there, though one happily does miss the sound of cash registers, theft prevention devices (the Theif 16', as one organist called it), and the noise of the store. Also, with the exception of concerts, the organist cannot play anywhere near to full organ, because that would disrupt the activities of commerce. One can only imagine the complexities involved in recording an organ which is scattered over several stories and contains nearly 30,000 pipes. The organ has been restored to most of its former glory, and one is delighted to know that Lord & Taylor have taken an active role in keeping up this magnificent instrument.In listening to these recordings, it is easy to forget that it is actually an organ playing. Conte's transcriptions are close to the spirit of the originals. This is a stunning achievement, and I reccommend this recording to all, even those who don't like organ music."