PAPILLONS BLEUS

Classical Music

WIDOR: Piano Trio, Op. 19 / Piano Quintet, Op. 7

Classical Music

Classical Music

It may seem strange to associate Charles-Marie Widor (the foremost organ virtuoso of his day) with the restrained art-form of the French m�lodie. Yet it formed an important part of his output and he played a major part in it's establishment as a serious art-form. He composed nearly a hundred, including the song-cycle Chansons de mer in which the sea's constant ebb and flow, rendering all things transitory, reflects human life in it's ever-changing moods. The remaining m�lodies demonstrate the maturation of Widor's style in different ways.

During his unprecedented 64 years as organist at Saint-Sulpice in Paris, Charles-Marie Widor developed a powerfully symphonic approach to music for the organ, finding new combinations of color, sonority and texture. The ten symphonies for organ are central to his repertory for the instrument. Featured on this first volume are the Symphony No. 1 in C minor, with its homage to Bach, luminous and ceremonial and with virtuoso flourishes; and the Symphony No. 2 in D major offering a fascinating series of contrasts with some spectacular effects. Wolfgang Rubsam plays at the restored E.M. Skinner instrument at The University of Chicago, the largest pipe organ in Midwest America.

WIDOR: Piano Trio, Op. 19 / Piano Quintet, Op. 7

Organ Recital: Pohl, Michael - WIDOR, C.-M. / BOELLMANN, L.

Also available: Widor: Organ Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 & 8-10 / Schmitt

WIDOR Symphony No. 3 for Organ and Orchestra, op. 69. 1 Symphony No. 7 for Organ Solo • Stefan Solyom (org); 1 Christain Schmitt, cond; 1 Bamberg SO • CPO 777 678-2 (73:04)


Among my very first reviews for this magazine was one in 33:6 of a CPO release of Widor’s Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, op. 42bis, and the Sinfonia Sacra for Organ and Orchestra, op. 81, performed by the same musicians as on this present release. I gave the previous disc an enthusiastic recommendation, and so it is a delight to give its worthy successor almost as hearty a welcome.


The Symphony No. 3, op. 69, is Widor’s first completely original work for organ and orchestra; the op. 42bis from 1882 was a pastiche created by combining rearranged versions of the outer movements of the Organ Symphony No. 6, op. 42/2, with a slow movement from the Organ Symphony No. 2, op. 13/2. In construction, the Third Symphony hews very closely to its explicit model, the Symphony No. 3 of Widor’s friend Camille Saint-Saëns. As with the Saint-Saëns it is laid out in four movements, with the first two and last two joined together without pause to form two larger movements, and with the organ part integrated into the larger orchestral fabric rather than being given prominence as a vehicle for a virtuoso soloist. Melodically the work also shows its kinship to Saint-Saëns, though there are occasional nods in the direction of César Franck and even early Wagner. The dramatic first movement, dominated by a syncopated motif in a 6/8, is succeeded by a lush Andante with a broadly flowing, noble melody. The energetic scherzo, capped by the one extended organ solo in the work, segues into a stately finale that ultimately brings the work to an unabashedly triumphant conclusion. The booklet notes mention that there have been only a handful of performances of this work since the composer’s death; let’s hope that recordings such as this change that situation, for this piece fully deserves to be programmed as often as the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony. It is a cause for wonder that to date those two works have not been teamed up on a compact disc; indeed, one wonders why that was not done here.


The booklet notes do not indicate why the Organ Symphony No. 7, op. 42/3, was chosen to fill out this disc, rather than any other one of Widor’s 10 works in that mode, or else the Symphonie Antique , op. 83, for choir, organist, and orchestra; presumably it is a favorite of the organist, Stefan Solyom. Cast in six movements, it opens with a Moderato that is built upon a martial, fanfare-like motif. The next movement is a gentle Chorale, the theme of which has alternating duplet and triplet units in the course of its development. An ensuing Andante-Allegro begins with a graceful, elegant dance theme that gives way to a faster, more agitated section before making its return. Next, an Allegro ma non troppo follows, in which a theme consisting of sustained whole notes is sounded over ever-changing rippling configurations in the accompaniment. The succeeding Lento symmetrically returns the piece to the subdued mood of the second movement chorale, followed by a finale with a dense, stormy opening and an edgy, fidgety main theme in a duple meter that brings the work full-circle to its opening.


In my initial paragraph I said that I would give this release “almost as hearty a welcome” as its predecessor. The qualifier is not due to the caliber of this performance, the recorded sound, or the detailed booklet notes, all of which are to the same excellent standard as the previous release. It is rather because this time there is a formidable competitor; the op. 69 has a recording on Chandos with Ian Tracey, Yan-Pascal Tortelier, and the BBC Philharmonic that I would rate even more highly due to its more spacious recorded sound. That disc has as fillers the Symphony No. 2 for Organ and Orchestra of Félix-Alexandre Guilmant and a chorale by Franck. Since the Guilmant is a much more scarce item, and there are several alternative recordings of the organ Symphony No. 7—on the Festivo, MDG, Motette, Skarbao, and Solstice labels, all from complete sets of the organ symphonies (the Skarbao cycle being still in progress)—my advice would be to acquire the Chandos release and whichever one of these recordings of the organ symphony suits your fancy. But if you have the funds and inclination to have both recordings of the op. 69, or if Guilmant is not to your taste, then by all means acquire this as well.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.


It's great to have this music available in spectacular SACD surround-sound. Though these two symphonies have been recorded previously (notably on Motette), this release roundly eclipses previous issues both sonically and interpretively. The organ in the Bamberg Symphony's concert hall is a magnificent instrument, and very well suited to both the grand and intimate aspects of Widor's writing. The Op. 42 symphony was arranged from one of the composer's earlier symphonies for organ solo, and the orchestra here is basically just along for the ride. Still, Widor's use of the contrast between massive, fortissimo chords for organ as opposed to the orchestra is very effective, and it's spectacularly captured by the Bavarian Radio engineers. Organist Christian Schmitt exploits the varied tone colors of his instrument extremely effectively at lower dynamic levels in the central slow movement--the whole piece is just great fun.

The Sinfonia Sacra is another matter: it's one of the great masterpieces in the literature for organ and orchestra. Cast as a single continuous movement some 30 minutes long, it's a probing, mostly meditative, harmonically interesting piece that brilliantly exploits the organ both alone and in every conceivable combination with the orchestra before rising to a grandly solemn final climax. It deserves to be as popular as, say, Poulenc's Organ Concerto, and it certainly should be heard more often in concert halls that have decent instruments. Its comparative neglect is astonishing. Conductor Stefan Solyom accompanies alertly here, keeping the music flowing and creating some lovely interplay between the orchestra and the soloist, and the orchestra follows him with total conviction. If you love good Romantic orchestral music, don't let this release pass you by.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

The third volume in our series of Charles-Marie Widor’s Organ Symphonies, performed by Joseph Nolan on the magnificent Cavaillé-Coll organ of L’église de la Madeleine, Paris. Bridging the generations from Mendelssohn to Messiaen, Empire to Republic, Widor was born to the organ. His Lyonnaise kinsfolk were organ-builders, he showed early talent for the instrument, and for decades was the embodiment of its might and splendour across the Gallic domain - his ‘Organ Symphonies’ were genre-defining in their influence.

Joseph Nolan is an internationally renowned organist, acclaimed as ‘brilliant and such an astute musician’ (Gramophone UK). He was appointed to Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal, St James’s Palace in 2004, and has since been invited to perform and record in some of the world’s premiere venues – including the refurbished Organ of Buckingham Palace Ballroom and the Organ of Saint- Sulpice in Paris.

"Gothic music meets Gothic organ here in performances that encompass a broad expressive spectrum from quiet meditation to dramatic thunder and lightning.” The Times

Volume 1 in a new collection of Charles-Marie Widor’s Organ Symphonies, performed by Joseph Nolan on the magnificent Cavaillé-Coll organ of L'église de la Madeleine, Paris. Bridging the generations from Mendelssohn to Messiaen, Empire to Republic, Widor was born to the organ. His Lyonnaise kinsfolk were organ-builders, he showed early talent for the instrument, and for decades was the embodiment of its might and splendour across the Gallic domain - his ‘Organ Symphonies’ were genre-defining in their influence.

Joseph Nolan is an internationally renowned organist, acclaimed as ‘brilliant and such an astute musician’ (Gramophone UK). He was appointed to Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal, St James’s Palace in 2004, and has since been invited to perform and record in some of the world’s premiere venues - including the refurbished Organ of Buckingham Palace Ballroom (SIGCD114) and the Organ of Saint-Sulpice in Paris (SIGCD167). The Cavaillé-Coll Organ of La Madeleine, Paris is a similarly renowned instrument, with former chief-organists including Camille Saint-Säens and Gabriel Fauré.

“These performances are full of spontaneity yet for all Nolan’s brilliance he allows the requirements of the composer always to take priority. The sympathy and expression that Nolan gives to this music and the assurance of his results will undoubtedly give this recital a special place amongst organ collectors” Musicweb International (for SIGCD167 – The Organ of Saint-Sulpice, Paris)

A highly enjoyable, and, thanks to the organ, rather remarkable release.

This is a good potpourri-style introduction to the organ works of Charles-Marie Widor. Too often he is of course only remembered for the infamous Toccata from the end of the fifth symphony, all too frequently so poorly played. Good then for the general music enthusiast to have a budget price introduction to some other corners of the Widor oeuvre many of which deserve to be better known than the Toccata. The implication however, that Naxos’s vast Organ Encyclopaedia isn’t going to include a complete Widor cycle strikes me as particularly unfortunate. This is especially true given that Naxos’s library does include a complete Rheinberger cycle.

The most interesting element of this disc though is the choice of instrument. I wrote in glowing terms here about Martin Pasi’s extraordinary dual-temperament instrument in Omaha in the context of Julia Brown’s Buxtehude recording. That was recorded – mostly, I think - in meantone using the 28 stops of the organ available in that temperament. Perhaps more of a challenge to these historically-informed super-eclectic American organs is how they handle repertoire such as that on the present recording. It makes for fascinating listening!

If I’m honest, some of the sounds here are not sounds one associates with the world of Widor. However only occasionally - the mixture at the beginning of track 2 for instance - does an aesthetic clash wander into one’s consciousness enough for it to be uncomfortable. Other idiosyncrasies - the flexible winding – surely there could be a more effective stabiliser for this sort of repertoire - and even the pure thirds in the well-tempered tuning - listen to those big C major chords in the Marche Pontificale! - maybe take a little getting used to, but I managed. The overriding impression of this disc is of an organ of simply enormous panache and personality. The warmth of the 8’ stops, the effectiveness of the swell box, the sheer grunt of the pedal reeds – all are extraordinary. Pasi’s organ doesn’t really evoke Rouen, but it is a work of sheer brilliance. To quote the late, great Stephen Bicknell: “the work of Brombaugh, Fritts, Pasi, Taylor and Boody and even Fritts-Richards operates at a level of artistic quality that simply does not apply in Europe any more, despite the beacons offered by, say, Ahrend and Aubertin.” He wasn’t wrong.

The organ seems to inspire Robert Delcamp to better performances than I’ve enjoyed on his previous Naxos discs - on much lesser instruments. Occasionally still a little ‘square’, his flair for French repertoire is undeniable, and I can therefore recommend this is as a highly enjoyable, and, thanks to the organ, rather remarkable release.

Chris Bragg, MusicWeb International