Composer: Marcel Dupré
Performer: Stefan Engels
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Catalogue: 8553920
Release: 1999
Size: 236 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Variations sur un vieux Noel, Op. 2013:05
3 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 36
02. I. Prelude No. 1 in E Minor
03. II. Prelude No. 2 in A-Flat Major
04. III. Prelude No. 3 in C Major
Symphonie-Passion, op. 23
05. I. Le monde dans l’attente du Sauveur
06. II. Nativite
07. III. Crucifixion
08. IV. Resurrection
Stephan Engels brings youthful vitality to these well-known scores. Though recorded in the extreme acoustics of the Heilig-Geist Kirche in Mannheim, Engels carefully articulates and sets off motives. The room lends its own long line to Dupre’s phrases. Certainly, the canonic variations on the Noel would be pedestrian if not minced elsewhere. Here, they remain lucid and intelligible. Likewise the diabolical C-Major Fugue remains intelligible throughout its demonic episodes. I find it’s gratifying to hear this convincingly French and arguably exciting Karl Gockel organ in Mannheim. Perhaps as a result of the acoustical qualities of the church, the organ evinces the muscle and impact of instruments ordinarily twice its size