POULENC: Concerto for Organ - Weir - English Chamber (SACD Hybrid)

Editorial Reviews
Album Description

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani in G minor

Pierre Petit (1922-2000)
Concertino for Organ, Strings and Percussion

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Toccata Festiva Op. 36

Gillian Weir, organ
English Chamber Orchestra
David Hill, conductor (Poulenc)
Raymond Leppard, conductor (Petit, Barber)

POULENC: Concerto for Organ - Weir - English Chamber (SACD Hybrid), Music, Francis Poulenc

Average customer rating:

Great performances and a REAL surround experience

POULENC: Concerto for Organ - Weir - English Chamber (SACD Hybrid)

Manufacturer: Linn Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00078VYL4
Release Date: 2004-12-28

Album Description

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani in G minor

Pierre Petit (1922-2000)
Concertino for Organ, Strings and Percussion

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Toccata Festiva Op. 36

Gillian Weir, organ
English Chamber Orchestra
David Hill, conductor (Poulenc)
Raymond Leppard, conductor (Petit, Barber)

Customer Reviews:

Great performances and a REAL surround experience.......2007-01-07

Great 20th-Century repertoire, fine performances, unbelievable recording, a real surround-sound experience...Buy this SACD now!

As perhaps the only work for organ and orchestra that has earned an unchallenged spot in the pantheon of Western classical music masterworks, the Poulenc concerto takes center stage on this disc. Gillian Weir and conductor Hill (himself an organist of the first rank) turn in a blistering performance. Only a couple of other recordings, both on regular CDs, can be placed in this league. The aging Angel recording with Duruflé, who played the work's premiere, is still a fine musical experience with historical interest. Organist Michael Murray, conductor Robert Shaw, and the Atlanta Symphony on Telarc are more successful at pulling together the work's bipolar religious seriousness and campy dance hall qualities into a tragic whole. Still, the unprecedented driving intensity of Weir's performance, and in SACD to boot, make this a "must have" recording.

Until recently, the Barber "Toccata Festiva" was a rarity unavailable even on regular CD. Now it turns up regularly in concert, and there are at least four recordings, including this one--all quite good. Raymond Leppard leads a plush Rolls Royce of a performance here. Weir negotiates the bravura organ part with ease, making this the pièce d'occasion that Barber intended. (The Sony recording by E. Power Biggs with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra is a worthy complement to this one despite dated sound.)

Pierre Petit's Concertino, dating from 1958, is little in name only. In three movements lasting about twenty minutes in total, it may be more intimate in scale and sound than the Poulenc and Barber, but it explores more sinister psychological ground.

The Linn recording is a real surround-sound experience. Those of us who regularly attend organ programs in churches are used to concerts where the organ is in a gallery behind us at the rear of the church while the orchestra is in front in the chancel. This was the setup when this recording was made at the Tonbridge School Chapel in Kent. In the disc's surround program, the 68-stop Marcussen organ roars from the rear channels, and the orchestra speaks from the front. The sense of space is remarkably defined, and the sound is detailed and clean. It is almost too beautiful. In two-channel, the entire sound stage folds quite naturally to the front. This disc makes a strong argument for the SACD format.

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

Music Review

Rare: Collected B-Sides [Import]

The Best Of Danny Williams

Thomas Arne: Six Favourite Concertos

1947

White Hot Peach [Import]

Tremendo Trio [Import]

Ultimate Rap

Water On Mars

Through My Eyes

Tradition: Legacy of the March Volume III

Triplicate

Tributo a Neruda: Marinero En Tierra V.1 & V.2 [Import]

Underground Allstars [Explicit Lyrics]

Faure, Debussy & Ravel Piano Trios (Stereo Hybrid SACD)

30 Exitos Insuperables