Search - Felix [1] Mendelssohn, Stephen Tharp :: Mendelssohn: Organ Sonatas Nos. 1 - 6, Op. 65

Liederabend at the Organ

Matyas Becvarov | Salisbury, NC United States | 07/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The organ sonatas op. 65 of Mendelssohn are rarely recorded in their entirety on a single disc, which makes this recording a point of light, in my opinion. The six sonatas are all gorgeous music and fully deserve to be recorded together, as they are here by Stephen Tharp on the Casavant Frères organ of St. Clement's Church in Chicago. The mechanical-action instrument has 20 stops on two manuals and pedal. The tonal resources of the instrument are very good, reeds and flue stops having no shrill edge to them as is the case with some other Casavant instruments of my acquaintance. The plenum is actually rather subdued, just filling the church rather than shaking the rafters. Tharp, an organist at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and a former student of Wolfgang Rübsam (who produced the recording), plays the lively bits with rousing verve and the song-like bits with sweetness and sensitivity -- for example, the Andante tranquillo of Sonata No. 3 in A Major, which uses some lovely flute stops with the soft waver of the tremolo added. Tharp's performance of the Allegro con brio of Sonata No. 4 in Bb gives me goosebumps, it's so good. Information on the organ appears in the liner notes, which is always welcome. Absolutely to be recommended to anyone who loves Mendelssohn, good organ music, or the best of both those worlds."

Superb homage to Mendelssohn

R. J. Stove | Gardenvale, Victoria Australia | 09/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stephen Tharp's artistic approach is magnificent. With certain organists, these sonatas can become torpid and tedious; yet the approach here is always fresh (with abundant rubato) and flamboyant. No "Victorian" pomposity. At times, in fact, Tharp - playing a very French-sounding Chicago instrument designed by Quebec's Casavant firm - seems a bit too Gallic to be wholly convincing in this repertoire (the First Sonata would have benefited from greater legato and from more moderate speeds in the outer movements); still, the man clearly has technique and musical intelligence at a superb level.



The sound quality for this homage to Mendelssohn is also marvelous: lucid but resonant. Given Naxos's bargain price - and the fact that most rival versions are spread expensively over two CDs, albeit sometimes fitted out with the composer's lesser known organ pieces - Tharp's account really should be bought by all with the slightest enthusiasm for the "King of Instruments"."

Uninvolving performance

K | 11/02/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Far better performances of these pieces are available from, e.g., Peter Hurford (Decca/London), or Jozef Sluys (Koch Discover Int'l). I am somewhat amazed that the other reviewers gave this CD 5 stars. Also, contrary to the assertion made by another reviewer, there are plenty of other single-CD recordings with all the sonatas - at least 6 currently available. ... I wanted to get a recording of Mendelssohn's organ sonatas after hearing them played at church. I did buy this Naxos recording and was very disappointed in the performance, which to me sounded rushed and superficial, missing the depth and subtlety of the music. ... I would very much recommend the Jozef Sluys (which is also available at budget price) recording over this one. ... Naxos has some very good CDs in its organ music series, but this isn't one of them."