The
third of Priory's series of recordings featuring Gillian Weir
playing at the foremost concert halls in the UK is a double
CD recorded on the 2001 Klais instrument at Birmingham's Symphony
Hall. The programming on the face of it is poor: no fewer than
eleven Toccatas, but there is sufficient variety in the music
to keep the listener in check.
Weir
is, as usual, at her best in the late romantic and twentieth
century repertoire. I especially enjoyed the Toccata by Saint-Martin,
which should be played more often, as the thematic material
is especially strong. Saint-Martin was Pierre Cochereau's predecessor
at Notre-Dame. Elsewhere the famous Tanz-Toccata by Weir's teacher
Anton Heiller receives a vivid and ferocious reading, as does
the, completely unknown to me, Prokofiev-like Toccata by the
St Petersburg composer Sergei Slonimsky. And, if the Reger Toccata
is, for me, too frantic, Weir achieves a stunningly organic
sense of growth in the Fugue. William McVicker's composition
was a commission on the occasion of the retirement of American
concert agent Karen MacFarlane by six of the British-based
organists she represented. The theme is Vincent Youmans' "Tea
for Two" and each variation represents one of the famous
musicians, although which variation belongs to which player is
left to the listener to work out. An amusing work then, full of
pastiche and no little invention. Listen also to the way Weir
brings Flor Peeters'
work off the page which a compelling feeling for timing and
drama.
The
earlier repertoire seems a strange choice on this modernist
Germanic concert hall Klais. The Bach works well enough; Weir's
momentum in the fugue is excellent, though the plenum is deadly
dull. Elsewhere, the acoustic and lack of character inherent
in the instrument do not invite me to grovel at the feet of
Emperor Leopold in Muffat's Toccata Duodecima. Here Weir is
at her least convincing, playing too fast for the drama of the
music to become evident, and using a strange trumpet registration
on the third page 'durezze e ligature' - surely this is the
Italian influence in Muffat's music at its most obvious? The
Klais even has a Voce Umana. Rossi's crazy Toccata Settima
loses all of its meaning by being played in equal temperament.
For
me though the big disappointment is the organ at Symphony Hall.
It's simply not good enough to hold my attention for the duration
of 2 CDs. It is important to differentiate between the modern
eclectic organ which grew naturally from the study of historic
organs, a phenomenon at which the Americans lead the race, as
stunning modern instruments by Paul Fritts (and especially the
organ at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma) and Martin Pasi
testify, and, on the other hand, the eclectic organ which grew
from the modernist movement of the post-war era, with its roots
in the neo-baroque. The latter organ-type found its maturity,
if we're honest, in the Rieger and Klais organs of the
mid-1970s. Twenty-five years later this Klais organ strikes me
being loud, sterile and quite anti-symphonic. The reeds are
horribly neutral, mystery is completely absent, and the lack of
a broad, warm 8' fonds is very telling. Of the three concert hall organs Weir
has recorded in this series, this is the one I want to listen
to least. Fisk seem to me to have a better idea of how to make
an eclectic organ from a symphonic basis; Klais will forever
build Klais organs.
This
is still essential though for fans of Gillian Weir, and I remain
a fervent admirer of her playing and advocacy of the organ in
general. What a pity she didn't contribute the liner notes.
Those by David Gammie are excellent, but Weir's own insights
are always fascinating, and usually help to put her performances
into a clear and inspiring context.
Chris Bragg
Dame Gillian Weir (organ)
