Reviewing an earlier Carus recording of Vierne (Symphonies 3
and 5, 83.405 - see
review),
I expressed my surprise that the Kern organ in the Dresden Frauenkirche
lent itself so well to French music of this period. That recording,
like the new one, proclaims
Viernes Orgelwerke on the
front cover and the Carus website refers to the new recording
as a
Fortsetzung der Gesamteinspielung der Orgelwerke von
Louis Vierne bei Carus, so I’m happy to report that
I was right to assume that a complete series is in the making.
The new CD is the successor to an earlier recording by Kay Johannsen
of the other
Pièces de fantaisie, Op.51 and Op.53.
The
Pièces de fantaisie are less well known than
Vierne’s
Organ Symphonies, apart from the famous
Carillon
de Westminster from Suite III; there seems to be only one
rival recording of all four currently available (Olivier Latry
on BNL112742, 2 CDs). Though they contain some fine music, there
are occasional
longueurs unless they are played by a performer
thoroughly in tune with their idiom.
I haven’t had access to Latry’s performances but,
as Vierne’s successor at Notre Dame, he can be expected
to be in touch with the idiom of the music and these CDs were
well received when they appeared in 1990. If the video on YouTube
where he plays the
Toccata from Suite II on the Notre
Dame organ is anything to judge by, I’m impressed. He takes
a little longer than Johannsen but he brings out the debt to
Bach and the power of the music even more clearly.
Johannsen is an esteemed interpreter of the German organ tradition:
Glynn Pursglove was very impressed with his recording of Advent
and Christmas music on Carus 83.179, a recording which he thought
too good for just Christmas - see
review;
Chris Bragg liked the music and the performances but the organ
left him ‘stone-cold’ - see
review.
On the other hand, CB thought Johannsen’s playing of Liszt
(Carus 83.171) less instinctive, remarking that it sounds “dark,
supple, sometimes very atmospheric, and very musical, if, for
my taste a little cold” - see
review -
which pretty well sums up my feelings about the Vierne.
Carus have chosen as their default illustration of the recording
on their homepage a sample from the opening movement,
Lamento,
of Suite II. This will give you an idea of Johannsen’s
way with the quieter sections of the music, but click on the
word
Hörproben and you’ll be able to hear mp3
samples from the other movements. Don’t judge the quality
of the performances overall by that opening movement or the by
the other reflective movements such as the following
Sicilienne;
there were times when I thought that Johannsen was just a little
bored in those quieter moments and I much preferred his playing
in the more extrovert pieces.
Listening to these extracts won’t, of course, let you hear
the full majesty of the recorded sound, especially in the larger-scale
movements which close each Suite,
Toccata (track 6) and
Les
cloches de Hinckley (tr.12), where Johannsen’s playing
can be heard at its best. The latter deserves to be as popular
as the
Carillon de Westminster, especially when played
as well as it is here. I have heard this piece taken more quickly,
but Johannsen’s pace is totally convincing.
The notes are rather brief and, in the English translation at
least, an abridgement of the German original, tell us little
about the individual movements. I should have thought it likely
that English readers would have wanted to know about the reference
to the bells of Hinckley (tr.12) but only the German original
refers (briefly) to the influence of change-ringing on the structure
of this piece. The Carus website mentions Vierne’s fascination
with cathedrals, and, indeed, the third movement of Suite IV
is entitled
Cathédrales (tr.9), but Hinckley, situated
between Leicester and Coventry, boasts only a parish church;
Vierne must have heard its bell-ringers in action on one of his
visits to England in the early 1920s. I think most listeners
would have sacrificed the photocopy of the autograph score of
the first page of
Clair de lune on p.5 in order to have
had more information about the music.
In another respect, the booklet is very helpful; like the recording
of the Symphonies, it contains a full specification of the Kern
organ in the Frauenkirche. Designed to replace the original 1736
Silbermann organ, destroyed in the bombing of Dresden, its specification
was specifically planned to build on the Franco-German heritage
of its predecessor. Silbermann had received his training in Strasbourg,
long before the days of Cavaillé-Coll, of course, some
of whose principles were incorporated into the new Frauenkirche
instrument, thereby ‘honoring the memory of Silbermann
while also enabling the organist to play 19
th and
20
th century music with conviction’, as Hans
Musch’s note puts it.
On the whole Kay Johannsen’s playing does present the music
convincingly enough, combined with good recording, for me to
consider obtaining the earlier CD containing his performances
of the other two Suites of
Pièces (83.250). You
might just want to check out that Latry recording, though, if
you get the chance.
Brian Wilson
Kay Johannsen (Kern organ) 
[75:42] 
