Gerhard Weinberger's
complete cycle of the Bach organ works,
begun a few years ago, has now reached
Volume 15. As with Volume 14, the new
disc consists of arrangements from the
pen of other composers as well as from
Bach himself. Arrangements of existing
music were common practice in the early
18th century as a means of meeting the
musical demands of the community, church
and state. Of course, it helps that
Bach is at the wheel, and his arrangements
are never less rewarding than the originals.
To date, Weinberger's
Bach series has been somewhat of a mixed
bag. His basic style has been to provide
sharply contoured and detailed interpretations
of tremendous power and severity. For
the most part, this style has resulted
in many amazing performances, although
it can also neglect Bach's lyricism
and subtleties.
The series has used
a number of historical organs, and Volume
15 partakes of the Zacharias Hildebrandt
Organ that was built in the years 1743
to 1746. Once completed, the organ was
accepted by both Bach and the famous
organ builder Gottfried Silbermann.
The Hildebrandt organ was considered
to have a gorgeous tone, and Bach's
son-in-law Altnickol reported that "he
who has seen and heard this organ never
went away from it without admiration".
The Hildebrandt organ
may be beautiful to look at and listen
to, but its sound environment is the
opposite of what Weinberger's playing
style requires. The acoustical properties
are overly reverberant, resulting in
a spongy articulation by Weinberger.
His sharp contours and well detailed
musical lines never see the light of
day as the swimming acoustics take command
of the production. Such a soundstage
would not seriously damage performances
from an organist such as Christopher
Herrick who favors rounded contours
in his Hyperion Bach organ series, but
it is the kiss of death for Gerhard
Weinberger.
The Concerto arrangements
offer a good picture of the problematic
acoustics. The slow middle movements
with their starker textures sound very
good, and Weinberger uses highly imaginative
registrations. Unfortunately, the busy
outer movements are too dense and massive
to allow any detail to emerge. I compared
the Weinberger readings with a few other
recordings in my inventory, and every
one of them was sharper than Weinberger's
and benefited from the difference.
Weinberger is surprisingly
soft in tone and discreet in the Schübler
Chorales. Although this style is not
one I favor, the more significant problem
again comes from the swimming acoustics
and is most damaging in BWV 646 "Wo
soll ich fliehen hin oder Auf meinen
lieben Gott" where the musical lines
get tangled up in an aural mush.
The one work on the
program where the Weinberger trademark
is ever-present is in the Ricercar from
The Musical Offering. Weinberger's version
is the most powerful I have ever heard,
but the real distinction is that the
tremendous strength continues unabated
from beginning to end. I felt totally
drained by the conclusion, and I think
it is fair to say that the reading is
one that no listener would ever forget.
In conclusion, Volume
15 is one of the least rewarding discs
in Weinberger's Bach organ series. We
could debate for many hours the virtues
of Weinberger's approach to Bach's music,
but the matter is relatively moot given
a soundstage that tends to sap the organist's
strengths. To get the full measure of
Weinberger's style, I suggest acquiring
Volumes 3 and 4 of the series. Volume
3 contains most of Bach's Orgelbuchlein,
while Volume 4 completes the Orgelbuchlein
and also offers wonderful interpretations
of the Partitas BWV 767 & 770 and
the Fugues BWV 569 and 574. I can only
recommend the new volume to those who
have been collecting every disc in the
series.
Don Satz
Gerhard Weinberger, organ 
