Search - Widor, Bamberger Symphoniker, Solyom :: Organ Symphonies Opp 42 & 81 (Hybr)

Widor for organ and orchestra

Craig M. Zeichner | Brooklyn, NY | 04/05/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The two symphonies are quite different and really showcase Charles Marie Widor's skill. The Symphony Op. 42 is a reworking of movements from two of Widor's symphonies for solo organ. The interesting back story is that Widor reworked the music because King Edward VII of England asked him to come to the Royal Albert Hall to play the "Voice of Jupiter" organ. Widor needed a work for organ and orchestra and the rest is history. The Symphony opens in heroic style with lots of splashes for brass. The middle movement is impassioned and quintessentially Romantic while the closing Allegro is boisterous and busy. Not a great work, but a highly entertaining one.



The Sinfonia Sacra is sublime. Widor was a great lover of German music and concertized quite a bit in the country. It was the great Bach scholar Albert Schweitzer who suggested that Widor compose a work for organ and orchestra based on the chorale "Nun komm der Heiden Heiland," a tune which inspired Bach (he wrote a cantata based on it and numerous organ pieces). Widor responded with a masterpiece that showcases some pretty impressive contrapuntal skills, great orchestration and, of course, some remarkable organ writing. Check out the final big fugue that closes the work to get an idea of how well Widor responded to the task.



Organist Christian Schmitt plays a German organ and it actually works quite well in this music, particularly the instrument's warm flutes. Stefan Solyom leads the Bamberg Symphony and they play quite beautifully and really shine with some fine string playing in the gorgeous Adagio that opens the work.

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Repertoire worth hearing, but no sonic spectacular

Orgelbear | 03/05/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These two works are quite different. The style of the 3-movement G minor Symphony for Organ and Orchestra (1882) will be familiar to listeners who know Widor's solo organ symphonies, because the work is an orchestration of the first and last movements of the Symphony No. 6 and the third movement from Symphony No. 2. The orchestration tends to lie on top of the organ part like varnish, but the effect is grand and spirited. The Sinfonia Sacra (1909) is a somber meditation on the chorale "Nun komm, der heiden Heiland." Its harmonies and thematic development are distinctly Wagnerian, and the organ is more carefully integrated into the orchestra. These are ambitious works if, ultimately, not great ones.



I wanted to like this disc more than I do. The performances are technically fluent, thoughtful, and convincing, with the ensemble between the orchestra and organist Christian Schmitt particularly clean. However, the recording itself lacks color and presence (both in surround and 2-channel). Bamberg Philharmonic Hall's 72-stop Jann organ is an eclectic instrument that doesn't sound particularly French. Recorded balances slightly favor the orchestra. A higher voltage recording would certainly bring more excitement to the extroverted G-minor symphony.



Still, organ and orchestra aficionados will probably want this disc, as will explorers of lesser known romantic symphonic repertoire. If CPO, Schmitt, and the BSO take on Widor's orchestral Symphony No. 3 and the Symphonie Antique in a future recording, I would buy it based on my experience with this disc."