Glass-Bach Dresden
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532 [11:43]
Philip GLASS (b. 1937)
Mad Rush (1979) [13:14]
Johann Sebastian BACH
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 [4:00]
Philip GLASS
Dance No 4 (from Dance, 1979) [21:35]
Mark Steinbach (organ)
rec. 21-23 August 2019, Silbermann organ, Kathedrale St. Trinitas, Dresden
ORANGE MOUNTAIN MUSIC OMM0150 [50:03]
There are a number of attractions to this release, and not least the instrument used for the recording. Few organ buffs will pass on the chance to hear Gottfried Silbermann’s magnum opus, his largest instrument and completed to his specifications after his death in 1753. It certainly sounds magnificent here, though labels such as Cybele who have pulled out all the stops with SACD sound have in the past managed to squeeze even more detail and atmosphere from the venue (review). The vast Hofkirche acoustic is a tricky one to get right, and there is a trade-off between a closer balance in which the various ranks of pipes appear in a variety of places and distances in the soundstage, and the more generalised perspective in Mark Steinbach’s recording, which is closer to what you would hear as an audience in the church.
Don’t get me wrong, the organ sound here is by no means diffuse. Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D major is an excellent opener, with plenty of spectacle and some expressive contrast to allow our ears to tune in to the sound. Mark Steinbach is University Organist, Curator of Instruments, and Senior Lecturer in Music at Brown University, and his Bach is impeccable; fleet of touch and rhythmically accurate without sounding mechanical. Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland is played with a natural pace that would be sympathetic to a vocal rendition, so not too slow and reverential so that everyone is running out of breath by the end of each phrase.
As far as Philip Glass goes, this recording has a strong if more expensive 2 CD competitor in Iveta Apkalna on the Oehms label (review). Mark Steinbach is a touch swifter in tempo in Mad Rush, but the sense of flow and generated suits this environment perfectly in the first section, the opening notes accompanied by the ticking of the organ’s trackers. In his booklet notes, Steinbach admits to a loss of clarity when using the organo pleno or full organ, the gain being “an immersive ocean of sound.” This is certainly the case given the dramatic pace of the music, which has an intensity of energy that is also given to Dance No 4. Steinbach’s sound is in fact far more direct and dynamic than Apkalna, who is almost dreamlike in comparison when it comes to Mad Rush.
I am a huge fan of Iveta Apkalna’s recording of Dance No 4, its combination of urgent momentum and mellifluousness of sound being something I can listen to for a very long time indeed. Listening to Mark Steinbach and Silbermann and it sounds as if the organ is being pushed to its limits here, making the experience more dramatic and edgy than Apkalna’s, which by comparison always seems to have energy in reserve. Apkalna comes in at nearly 18 minutes where Steinbach clocks 21:35 while both have very similar tempi, the former moving across all sections like a figure-skater where the latter is perhaps forced to change half a gear down at some points due to the sheer weight of wind hammering through those baroque pipes. There is plenty to be said for both recordings. If you want something more meditative then you will choose Apkalna, and if you want higher energy and a dose of that ‘get up and go’ feel then you will plump for Steinbach. I for one am glad to have both.
Dominy Clements
