While the nineteenth-century fashion for putting large organs in civic buildings inspired composers to write for organ with orchestra, the invention of digital recording has certainly been responsible for the recent upsurge of interest in these works. Record producers seem to be falling over themselves to find spectacular examples of the genre to put on disc. And they don’t come much more spectacular than Dupre’s G minor Symphony, with organ and orchestra vying to outdo each other in arrays of colours and numbers of decibels. It is also a well-crafted piece which can survive the closest scrutiny even when shorn of the outward manifestations of sonic spectacle. That is very much the treatment it receives here. Barry Wordsworth’s reading is intense and tightly argued and he receives outstanding support from a BBC Concert Orchestra on world-class form and from Jeremy Filsell, who handles the hugely demanding organ part with dazzling virtuosity.
When all is said and done, however, the work needs a certain element of extra-musical spectacle. Guild’s choice of St John’s, Smith Square, cannot begin to match Telarc’s Royal Albert Hall in terms of sheer aural opulence, and the mighty RAH organ sends shivers down the spine while its Smith Square counterpart seems more adept at setting the teeth on edge.
In 1986 when Telarc released their CD there was still a certain novelty factor about this new medium which they chose to show off in an unsubtle if vivid manner, by recording the sound of the RAH organ blowers being switched on. No such frivolities for Guild. They include the first-ever recording of Dupre’s orchestrated version of Cortege et litanie and the Symphony for solo organ by Joseph Gilles. Clearly Filsell’s performance of this highly impressionistic work has been immaculately prepared, but on this hard-toned and somewhat unlovely organ it seems merely cold and impersonal. Joanne Demessieux’s Poeme, after a captivating start, becomes not merely cold and impersonal but, as the decibels mount up, aurally quite offensive too. The sound is far too unyielding for comfort.
If ever a recording was spoiled by the choice of recording venue this is it, but if you can withstand this unfriendly environment you will be rewarded by some truly outstanding performances.MR