The Alexandra Palace organ seems to have been pretty well doomed from the start. When these recordings were made it had already suffered from being burned down a matter of weeks after its installation, then steam from the engines required to power the wind supply leaked into the pipework, it was damaged by enemy action during the First World War and, finally, suffered mindless vandalism. It was eventually restored in 1929 and even if the current enthusiastic campaign fails to have it returned to its former opulence, this disc allows us to hear the instrument at the peak of its condition. Behind a thin veneer of hiss (which the ear quickly gets used to, anyway) the sound has remarkable depth and perspective and the innate character of both these magnificent organs, not to mention the contrasting acoustic of the two famous London halls, is vividly resurrected in Beulah's stunning remastering.
How many brides wish the organist at their wedding had performed Wagner's Bridal chorus from Lohengrin with the virility of Thalben-Ball? His playing, particularly in Wesley's Holsworthy Church Bells complete with tubular bells, seems to have boundless energy and a wonderful sense of style, as does G. D. Cunningham's, who brings magisterial flair to a stirring Elgar Sonata. On the long-lost Queen's Hall organ, we have two famous players in repertoire with which they will always be closely associated: Dupre performing at great speed French music from Clerambault to Saint-Saens and Schweitzer rather more sedately expounding his interpretative views on Bach. If most of us have had to rely on hearsay to justify our respect for these organists' reputations, then here we have convincing testament to their legendary status—in particular Schweitzer's performance of the Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV533, which surely overwhelms all advances in Bach scholarship and performance practice to stand as an interpretation of signal stature.'