Composer: John Cook, Edward William Elgar, Herbert Norman Howells, Marcel Lanquetuit, Ferencz Liszt, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
Performer: Gillian Weir
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Priory
Catalogue: PRCD859
Release: 2005
Size: 301 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Liszt: Fantasia and Fugue on ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’, S259
Liszt: Legendes for piano, S. 175
02. No. 2, St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots (Arr. for Organ)
Howells: Three Rhapsodies
03. No. 3, Moderato, ma appassionata
04. Parry: Toccata & Fugue in G Major “The Wanderer”
05. Cook: Fanfare for Organ
Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36
06. Var. 9, Nimrod (Arr. for Organ)
Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos. 1-5, Op. 39
07. No. 1 in D Major (Arr. for Organ)
08. Lanquetuit: Toccata in D major
The sight and sound of the Royal Albert Hall organ are familiar to Proms-goers, but for those who regard it as merely a noisy backdrop to the orchestral works of Elgar, Mahler, Strauss and others, this CD will come as a revelation.
There’s a wealth of colourful quiet registers on the newly restored instrument which are fully exploited by Dame Gillian Weir, including a soft percussion Carillon stop heard during Liszt’s Ad nos Fantasia.
She gives this giant composition a truly authentic 19th-century Romantic-style performance, with an unhurried approach to the slow middle movement and rhythmic virtuosity in the rapid outer sections. The vast tutti of the organ makes the C major conclusion even more glorious than usual and her account of this piece is one of the most spectacular you’ll ever hear.
The other solo works are equally successful.
Howells’s Rhapsody is passionate and eloquent, and Parry’s Toccata and Fugue has a dignified flow. In comparison, Cook and Lanquetuit’s pieces may seem lightweight, but the former has some attractive jazzy elements and the latter is as dazzling a French toccata as you’d hear from Dupré, Widor et al. Meanwhile, the transcriptions of Elgar and Liszt are entirely convincing thanks to Weir’s skill as a colourist.
Priory has done the RAH organ proud with an excellent recording and a comprehensive booklet.
One must salute the endurance of Weir and engineer Paul Crichton for making this disc during the hall’s only available hours – 1am to 6am. This is an exceptionally fine CD that should become a landmark recording.