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Very good news

Posted by Robert C. Lang (A) on January 14, 2007 at 22:09:50

In Reply to: Another Barber Tocatta Festiva SACD sighting posted by jdaniel on January 14, 2007 at 00:23:18:

This is good news. I only discovered the Barber “Toccata Festiva” three years ago or so (when it was released as a supplement to the Poulenc “Organ Concerto” on Linn. The Toccata Festiva quickly became the mainstay for me on the disc. Perhaps because I have no basis for comparison I found it almost faultless and am anxious to hear another interpretation and another recording of it. As it is it probably rates among the top ten in my collection with respect to “slam” factor. I have yet to hear a recording that does the organ at speed complete justice (the closest is the Widor “Mass Op. 36” on JAV Recordings) but “Toccata Festiva” is still very satisfying from that standpoint.

I was a lot more critical of the Linn Records Poulenc “Organ Concerto” on the same disc. Perhaps because I am so much more familiar with it and have heard it live (2 rehearsals and a concert at Davies Hall). Plus I have several recordings of it including the Telarc Michael Murray version, (who I am almost sure was the organist for the Poulenc and Saint Saens at Davies). Anyway, once you have heard the Poulenc Concerto in a live performance you will *never* forget its indelible impact.

I found the Linn (Gillian Weir, organist) performance/recording of the Poulenc Concerto to be above average but not special. I found the performance to be too “brisk” for what I’m familiar with and in the process it lost drive and impact throughout. In many cases if one interpretation is slower or faster than another interpretation of a particular work they both can still feel “right” to me, but not in this case. I have never really warmed to the Weir performance, even though I have given it ample opportunity.

But perhaps the coup de grâce for me was the organ came up short with respect to ultimate power down low. For example, the last 3 minutes or so of the Concerto includes, a somewhat faint but *very* deep organ passage which is sustained continuously for well over 90 seconds. Because it is sustained it is far easier to gauge than a transient. On the Telarc recording on three systems I have listened to it that specific passage in the Poulenc seemingly causes a change of barometric pressure in the room much like what I remember happened at the live performance of this concerto I attended. It feels like a small earthquake. But was really spooky was that it seemed that something or someone was sneaking up from behind you in the room (in two channel mind you). I think I once read where this sustained note (on the Telarc recording) was at 23 HZ. The feeling (hearing was not so much an issue) was absolutely missing from the Linn recording even though the organ came across very authentically in other areas.



Robert C. Lang

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