The gargantuan organ of the Royal Albert Hall has been restored
to a condition it had never previously enjoyed. For the first
time this instrument, the largest in the UK, is a fully functioning entity, and a fascinating
organ has emerged. Father Willis’s 1871 instrument was always
criticised for having too modest a sound for the vast space. It
was sensible therefore to restore it to its 1934 situation, when
Harrisons completed their two-phase rebuild, enlarging, loudening and
electrifying the instrument, re-using much Willis material. The
tonal result speaks more of Edwardian England than of Father Willis
in his heyday. It is undoubtedly a good thing that the ultimate
in English ‘town hall’ organ building, at least outside Sydney,
has been given new life at precisely the time when Britain is
waking up to the qualities of its post-Victorian, pre-war instruments.
It
sounds marvellous here, occasional tuning
problems aside; highly colourful, extremely
powerful, a vast range of reed and string
colour, an unending palette of sound
for the orchestrally-inspired organist.
Simon Preston fits the bill perfectly,
playing with panache and virtuosity
throughout. He begins with early romantic
German music. The Mendelssohn is an
obvious choice – its transcriber, W.T.
Best opened the first version of the
RAH organ in 1871. The resulting aesthetic
is very much Mendelssohn seen through
the eyes of an English organist of a
generation later. The Schumann is a
slightly more curious choice. This very
‘classically’ influenced music was never
conceived in terms of an organ of the
RAH’s tonal resources. Preston plays the music
in a truly late-romantic way, with an
abundance of colour-changes, even using
the very-high-pressure reeds at climactic
moments. The music doesn’t suffer as
such, but this, I find, is Schumann
seen from an aesthetic viewpoint of
a generation (at least) later. Bolcom’s
Fantasia is becoming ever more popular,
with its atonal and free opening and
its bluesy conclusion. The Gershwin
for me is the only unfortunate choice,
basically a medley of favourite tunes,
it does little more than show off some
colours. There’s also the wonderful
Karg-Elert Valse Mignonne; isn’t there
a repeat missing here? Finally there’s
a slightly hard-driven Jongen Sonata
Eroica – I have to confess I miss a
little space and contrast in the playing
here.
The
CD makes an excellent companion to Dame Gillian Weir’s very
recommendable disc for Priory on the same organ. Mike Hatch’s
recording is a bit brutal compared to the more spacious Paul
Crichton effort for Priory. But it is impossible to choose
between the two new releases featuring this remarkable instrument;
best to buy both I would suggest.
Chris Bragg
BUY NOW
AmazonUK
Simon Preston (organ) 
