I have been
a great fan of this recording for a while, so I'm delighted
to have the opportunity to review it now. This, quite simply,
is the best new organ recording I have heard in the last couple
of years. Loic Mallie is professor of theory and improvisation
at CNSM in Lyon and titulaire of the new Kern organ in the church
of St Pothin in the same city. Here he fuses the Leitmotivs
and harmonic language of Wagner with his own improvisatory language
to create a synthesis of extraordinary beauty. The resultant
music treads the line between 19th century Germany and 20th
century France, and also on occasion the line between impressionism
and expressionism and is unstintingly compelling.
Its
difficult to pinpoint the most admirable aspect here. I think
possibly it lies in the novelty of hearing a French organist
who is not afraid to have such an underwhelmingly introspective,
though always intense and focused improvisatory style, dominate
the more common combination of extrovert organ, sometimes cliché-ridden
(in the best possible sense for the most part!) fireworks most
commonly heard in Paris on Sunday morning, or in the UK when
the Parisian titulaires play concerts there. While the latter
seldom fails to excite, Mallie engages, draws you into his world,
giving a genial contemporary French organist's vision of Wagner.
Like Wagner's music, Mallie's is sometimes extremely static,
occasionally frantic, very occasionally demonic, the harmonic
landscape constantly changing, searching for an elusive eventual
peace. The scale of the improvisations is without exception
perfectly judged, despite their ranging in length from less
than 2, to more than 12 minutes. This is so much more than
a game of 'spot the leitmotiv'; it is the musical equivalent
of the darkest box of chocolates you could ever imagine...
The
Parisian church of La Madeleine, Napoleon's Greco-Roman temple
to victory, finally consecrated in 1845, contains an relatively
early Cavaillé-Coll. To my mind it rather carries the scars
of an ill-advised rebuild by Gonzales in the 1970s who electrified
the, until-then unaltered, action. The church has no windows
which gives it the curious quality that, no matter where one
sits, the organ sounds very direct. In the wrong hands it can
very easily become unpleasantly overbearing. Mallie seems to
understand this instinctively, a dynamic of mezzo forte or above
occurs only twice, in the fourth piece and briefly at the climax
of the finale; the motif of the Walkyries in the major for the
first time. For the rest he uses the organ as a Wagnerian orchestra,
using the beautiful flutes, solo reeds, strings and fonds with
unending imagination.
Unfortunately
Hortus had not yet begun to translate their CD booklets when
this was released, so the notes are for French speakers only.
In addition there is no specification or photograph of the organ,
a complaint, sadly I will return to with several further Hortus
CDs.
It
is a privilege to spend an hour in the company of such music-making.
If this has not yet found its way to your CD shelves, buy it
without hesitation.
Chris
Bragg
for details
Loic Mallie,
organ
