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Festivo are announcing the release of a CD (see here) with Rolande Falcinelli playing Franck, Dupré, her own works, and improvisations.
Falcinelli (born 1920) is a student of Marcel Dupré, and she succeeded him as organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire from 1954 till 1986. Her tenure was not devoid of difficulties: many people (me included) resent her refusal to take into account the rediscovery of baroque performance practises during the 1960s, while she remained faithful to the tradition of her master Dupré, a tradition rooted in the 19th century (Lemmens, Widor). This was of course fine when it came to teach her students to play works by Widor or Dupré, but for Bach, it was another story. In 1986, the contrast couldn't have been greater, when she retired and Michel Chapuis was named as her successor.
Unfortunately, those resentments incited many people (me not included !) to disregard her heritage entirely. This was unjustified, since she has been a top-notch organist, both musically and technically (I put her on par with Jeanne Demessieux, who so far has had some more "media attention" within the small organ world). Her Dupré interpretations are in my opinion still unsurpassed. I once heard her live in an improvised fully-fledged four part symphony - incredible!
It has therefore been all the more regrettable that so far, she has featured on CD only three times: Dupré's Chemin de la Croix at Notre-Dame, two tracks on the CD "Große Organistinnen" (published by organ), and a CD recorded in the St-Brice church of Tournai (Belgium), with a rather confidential dissemination.
The Festivo issue is therefore likely to be a welcome addition to the legacy of this great organist. I'm certainly going to grab it as soon as it comes out!
Falcinelli (born 1920) is a student of Marcel Dupré, and she succeeded him as organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire from 1954 till 1986. Her tenure was not devoid of difficulties: many people (me included) resent her refusal to take into account the rediscovery of baroque performance practises during the 1960s, while she remained faithful to the tradition of her master Dupré, a tradition rooted in the 19th century (Lemmens, Widor). This was of course fine when it came to teach her students to play works by Widor or Dupré, but for Bach, it was another story. In 1986, the contrast couldn't have been greater, when she retired and Michel Chapuis was named as her successor.
Unfortunately, those resentments incited many people (me not included !) to disregard her heritage entirely. This was unjustified, since she has been a top-notch organist, both musically and technically (I put her on par with Jeanne Demessieux, who so far has had some more "media attention" within the small organ world). Her Dupré interpretations are in my opinion still unsurpassed. I once heard her live in an improvised fully-fledged four part symphony - incredible!
It has therefore been all the more regrettable that so far, she has featured on CD only three times: Dupré's Chemin de la Croix at Notre-Dame, two tracks on the CD "Große Organistinnen" (published by organ), and a CD recorded in the St-Brice church of Tournai (Belgium), with a rather confidential dissemination.
The Festivo issue is therefore likely to be a welcome addition to the legacy of this great organist. I'm certainly going to grab it as soon as it comes out!