Duruflé’s complete corpus of organ music has fared well on disc in a small number of CDs which include anthoritative accounts by the composer and his wife on Erato. Eric Lebrun’s flamboyant performances on Naxos and Hans Fagius’s understated yet telling interpretations on BIS have also set a high standard for this repertoire – a standard that isn’t quite reached by Friedhelm Flamme.

He is mostly faithful to the composer’s markings, but his playing lacks the final degree of polish. Generally speaking I find the tempi too rapid; speeds are often faster than Duruflé’s metronome marks. The overall feeling of haste prevents the emotional intensity of the Prelude from Op 5 and the Adagio from Op 4 being fully conveyed to the listener. The brisk figuration of the Scherzo and the Prelude from Op 7 don’t have sufficient clarity and finesse and the 12/8 pulse of the Toccata from Op 5 isn’t sufficiently controlled. The Mühleisen organ, built in 2000, has all the appropriate colours, but the tutti aren’t the most pleasing you’ll hear; the reed stops are rather harsh and the higher-pitched registers don’t quite blend in.

The recording and booklet-notes are excellent, but I would have liked to hear Flamme in Baroque or contemporary music, for which I’m sure he’d be eminently suited. Meanwhile for Duruflé my first port of call would be Hans Fagius, with the composer, his wife and Lebrun as worthy companions.