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About LinkBacksRolande Falcinelli
Rolande Falcinelli
Lionel Rogg,
Michael Austin,
Simon Preston,
Martin Schellenberg,
Among many others already mentioned in this thread.
Well, I only started to listen in a very seriousway to organ music about a year ago.
And most of it I have listened to Bach.
Well, I have to admit: an awful lot of Bach, and also some stuff of his predecessors like Pachelbel, Buttstett, Böhm, Bruhns and Buxtehude. And some of his pupils: Johann Ludwig Krebs and Johann Peter Kellner.
And to some others, f.i. Sweelinck, De Grigny, Frescobaldi and Froberger.
I'm afraid I'm not that critical (yet?), being a newbie and so.
But in Bach, I made up my mind and I just have to go for very chauvinistic choices: Ewald Kooiman and Bram Beekman.
(This chauvinistic approach is also caused by the fact that there are a lot of Dutch organ discs [still] available around here, which aren't offered on a world-wide scale. So this means that one gets to know a lot of fellow countrymen- and women, compared to others.)
But there are really so many organists I adore in Bach (and other baroque music): again, some 'exquisite' Dutchies like Gustav Leonhardt, Leo van Doeselaar, Piet Wiersma and Wim van Beek.
On a global scale, I very much appreciated performances and recordings of: George Ritchie, Gillian Weir, Gerhard Weinberger, Wolfgang Zerer, Bine Katrine Bryndorf, Elizabeth Harrison, Bernard Foccroulle, Olivier Vernet, Hans Fagius, Harald Vogel, Marie-Claire Alain, Edward Power Biggs, Wolfgang Stockmeier et al and also et cetera.
And for getting to know the clarity and architecture of Bach's organ compositions I would certainly mention the legendary Helmut Walcha.
Well, in a year time things might have changed (though not my preference for Bach, I think).
Marc - I have four complete organ works of Bach CD sets, Ritchie, Walcha, Vad and Fagius. Love them all dearly for different reasons.
Wolfang Seiffen..and the rest
Most of them are already here but FWIW:
1. Olivier Latry
=1. Daniel Roth
=1. Pierre Cochereau
2. Thomas Trotter
3. Gillian Weir
4. Almut Roessler
5. Helga Schaurte
1) Pierre Pincemaille
2) Naji Hakim
3)David Briggs
4) W.Seiffen
5)Baptiste-Florian Marle Ouvrard
Why this ranking: to me an organist should be able to interprete as well to improvise....
I think your collection is very fine spread.Originally Posted by Contratrombone64
Walcha is essential, IMO, as I earlier mentioned. Both his mono and stereo box sets are still available, AFAIK, and for good reason!
Knud Vad is partly old-fashioned (much legato playing), but also 'modern' in his way of registration-choices and dynamics, especially in the free works. And, most of his performances were recorded 'live', which means that sometimes there's the odd mistake or audience coughing. No problem to me, really: it makes the performance more 'alive' and it also makes one's collection more varied, wouldn't you agree?
Ritchie and Fagius both have in common that they opt for a more 'authentic' approach: vivid phrasing and articulation, not much legato, not much differentation of registrations in one piece, and I like their straightforward almost no-nonsense way of playing. Especially Ritchie is able to maintain the tension (in a positive way) during the entire piece, also in the long ones.
Fagius plays on a selection of very interesting Swedish baroque organs, restored or newly/again built.
Ritchie is playing on a fine selection of American neo-baroque instruments, influenced by historic European examples.
This may sound a bit presumptuous, but might I give you just one advice?
Maybe you 'need' a 100% historic-instrument-integral to make your collection really 'complete'.
Unfortunately, both Ewald Kooiman and Bram Beekman (my faves) are OOP. But Gerhard Weinberger (CPO) and Bernard Foccroulle are available (the latter one being recently reissued on the Ricercar label), and I personally value their integrals very much.
Damn - thank you Thierry, how the hell could I forget Hakim and Briggs??! I'd have to slot them (both) in somewhere between Cochereau and Trotter on my initial list.
MPA
1. Jonas Nordwall
2. Donna Parker
I share your view except for Roth who is largely beneath his predecessors in St Sulpice (Dupré and Grünenwald!!) and Latry who is not exactly the type of guy for warming up the atmosphere...compared to Cochereau or even Devernay!
I'm suprised I haven't seen more votes for Cameron Carpenter ... I really rate him.
Sorry, nice idea but not possible as there is no recording extant of the Bach Organ works using an instrument from his era in its original condition (with the blacksmith pumping the bellows: no electricity).
This may sound a bit presumptuous, but might I give you just one advice?
Maybe you 'need' a 100% historic-instrument-integral to make your collection really 'complete'.
CT, as you say not in original condition and not pumped by the local brawn; however there is quite a nice set played on Silberman organs on the BML site. Some sound samples available
http://www.baroquemusiclibrary.com/silbcdeng.html
Many of the organs retain the original dispositions. All 7 CDs are downloadable.
Cheers MIKE.
How many roads must a man walk down ... ... before he admits he's lost?
Playing organ is something more than talent and acrobatics. It involves musical sensibility for most of organ literature and improvising abilities. In this aspect, listening to W. Seiffen made me a believer in re-encarnation (Bach´s in this case).
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