MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
AmazonUK


Let’s Come To An Arrangement
Johann STRAUSS II (1825-1899) arr. Andrew Wilson
Overture ‘Die Fledermaus’ [8:49]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) arr. Noel Rawsthorne
Sinfonia from Cantata No.29, BWV29 (4:07)
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-93) arr. Fred Feibel/Wilson
From The Nutcracker Suite, Op.71 (Miniature Overture [3:36]; Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy [2:05]; Dance of the Mirlitons [2:42]; Waltz of the Flowers [5:37])
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) arr. Edwin Lemare
Grand March from Aïda [6:40]
Edward ELGAR (1857-1934) arr. Herbert Brewer
Chanson de Matin, Op.15. No.2 [3:05]
Edward ELGAR arr. George Martin
Imperial March, Op.32 [5:13]
Gustav HOLST (1874-1934) arr. Arthur Wills
‘Venus’ (‘The Bringer of Peace’) from The Planets, Op.32 [8:01]
William WALTON (1902-1983)
Anniversary Fanfare and Coronation March ‘Orb and Sceptre’ [8:41]
Trad. arr. LEMARE
Auld Lang Syne (2:46)
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) arr. Ekaterina Melnikova
From Carnival of the Animals (Introduction and Royal March of the Lion [2:07]; The Elephant [1:32]; The Cuckoo in the Deep Wood [2:34]; Fossils [1:29]; The Swan [2:29]; Finale [2:12])
Andrew Wilson (organ)
rec. Great Malvern Priory, March 2009
REGENT REGCD325 [73:54] 

 

Experience Classicsonline


This is tremendous fun. Purists may run in horror but for the rest of us there is a huge amount to enjoy here. 

The disc showcases some of the organ transcriptions made in bygone years to bring great orchestral music to audiences who may never have gone to a concert hall or opera house.  Many of them come from the great Victorian arrangers W. T. Best and Edwin Lemare who were motivated by a desire to introduce great music to the people of the provinces who would not have been able to hear it in its original format.  It is played here with the utmost virtuosity by Andrew Wilson.  Not only does he know and love the magnificent instrument of Great Malvern Priory, but he has an obvious affection for these arrangements too, revelling in the kaleidoscopic colour of each number. 

The arrangements themselves tend to work – surprisingly - well.  While no one in this day and age would ever wish to be without the orchestral originals, the solution found by each arranger is normally sensitive and remarkably effective.  Some work better than others: the Bach Sinfonia sounds all busy-ness and bustle and feels just like an organ toccata with lots of virtuosity but not a lot of tonal variety.  Elsewhere, though, the contrasts are remarkable.  Take the Fledermaus overture, for example: in Strauss’s original it is common for a theme to be played twice with different instrumentation.  That works surprisingly well here: the first appearance of the waltz theme is bumbling and deep but immediately afterwards it sounds light and airy on a higher registration.  Likewise, the Miniature Overture to The Nutcracker is played on only 8’ and 4’ stops on the organ with no 16’ pitches on the pedal, reflecting the lack of bass instruments in the original.  The Sugar Plum fairy sounds remarkably like a celesta, while the flute stops are pulled out to very good effect for the Dance of the Mirlitons.  Wilson’s scampering fingers do a very good substitute for the harp cadenza at the start of the Waltz of the Flowers and the waltz rhythm carries very effectively on the pedals. 

The Aida march takes more liberties than usual with the written score, but it is very effective as an organ work, the grandeur and scale working very well.  After this the Chanson de Matin sounds rather anaemic (it’s a rather striking contrast!), but the ensuing strength of the Imperial March certainly restores the mood.  Venus is gently affecting, though rather persistently reedy.  Orb and Sceptre is a bit nondescript until the entry of the “big tune” where the tone becomes much more expansive and consequently more impressive.  Lemare’s Auld Lang Syne glows with Victorian sentiment and is all the more lovely for it. 

Of all the works represented here it is The Carnival of the Animals that is most dependent on orchestral colour for its success, and so it is inevitably here that you feel the most musical loss.  It’s a shame not to have clattering xylophones in Fossils, and without the contrast of the clarinet with the pianos the cuckoo loses nearly all of its effect.  That said, the elephant harrumphs away convincingly while the melody of the swan glides through on the pedals against the rippling effects of the hands at the top.  The introduction and finale are both good fun. 

Throughout the disc Wilson’s playing is sensitive and affectionate in music which he clearly has a lot of time for.  Recorded sound is excellent throughout with just the right bloom on the sound without being too distant; the acoustic always helps the sound and never gets in the way.  The excellent booklet notes are informative on each piece with its background, and there is a “biography” of the organ together with its specification. 

A very successful disc; a treat for organ lovers who want something a bit different.

Simon Thompson

 
 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.