The Organ, Master of them all - general organ thread

[Mandryka]

Quite a few of this 8 CD series have become available for download/streaming. Not all of them has music which interests me, but some of them do. I'm listening to a Kuhnau sonata at Pfaffroda  now, and it's very enjoyable indeed.

https://www.france-orgue.fr/disque/index.php?zpg=dsq.fra.rch&org=&tit=Die+Orgeln+von+Gottfried+&oeu=&ins=&cdo=1&dvo=1&vno=1&cmd=Rechercher&edi=&nrow=10

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I am becoming very tempted by some of these Hauptwerk digital/virtual pipe organ setups.

Does anyone have experience with these?

There are many videos on YouTube, such as this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWprXxnmrYM&t=208s

Not bad for 1800$, but I certainly would not set up speakers like that...

[dissily Mordentroge]

I am becoming very tempted by some of these Hauptwerk digital/virtual pipe organ setups.

Does anyone have experience with these?

There are many videos on YouTube, such as this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWprXxnmrYM&t=208s

Not bad for 1800$, but I certainly would not set up speakers like that...

You've hit on a significant weakness . Unless these instruments are heard through a state of the art amplifier/speaker combination there's little point to them other than for practice or committing directly to a digital medium. Remember, the pipe organ is by far the most difficult instrument to reproduce with anything like accuracy.

[prémont]

I am becoming very tempted by some of these Hauptwerk digital/virtual pipe organ setups.

Does anyone have experience with these?

CDs recorded with Hauptwerk have been released. I have heard a couple of these on my HIFI at home. The sound as such may be relatively true, but the acoustics feel artificial - something I thought before I knew, that the recordings were made in this way.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

You've hit on a significant weakness . Unless these instruments are heard through a state of the art amplifier/speaker combination there's little point to them other than for practice or committing directly to a digital medium. Remember, the pipe organ is by far the most difficult instrument to reproduce with anything like accuracy.

Of course that's true, but it's the closest many of us will ever get to playing one of these great instruments. Also, I have a pair of Vandersteen 2Ces, and if I bought the subwoofer (and another amp) to go with it, they would sound pretty good with one of these setups. St. Sulpice good? No. (I was there in June for a recital) but better than some $300 active monitors.

[dissily Mordentroge]

Of course that's true, but it's the closest many of us will ever get to playing one of these great instruments. Also, I have a pair of Vandersteen 2Ces, and if I bought the subwoofer (and another amp) to go with it, they would sound pretty good with one of these setups. St. Sulpice good? No. (I was there in June for a recital) but better than some $300 active monitors.

Add a pair of Velodyne DD 15' subs, instal their room compensation software and (if it's on the recording) the lowest notes of the St Sulpice will massage your innards quite effectively and at an identifiably correct pitch. No need to upgrade the Vandersteen 2C's. In fact if you remove the lowest frequencies by handing them over to the subwoofers they'll sing like never before.

[dissily Mordentroge]

One feature of Youtube videos I do enjoy are the informal tours of individual intrument's stops. I've bitched about the often nasty sonics of Youtube but sometimes the character of an instrument survives the usual MP 3 compression as in the link below.  You can skip the introduction, Mr Gartshore does at times tend to prattle on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2f5CaZRCW8
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here's a seriously strange instrument by of all people Rieger. Maybe they had a seriously eccentric client dedicated to the modern repertoire? Some of the noises it makes sound to me like a diesel engine horn on an American railway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQEJ18d0tms
Speaking of strange instruments this one is really interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlfcuawEUvg

[dissily Mordentroge]

There are many instruments out there that are strange by today's standards. This one, the first instrument the Grand-Orgue by Cavaillé-Coll at Cathédrale de Saint-Denis, has some serious limitations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYhsYEhXs5c

[dissily Mordentroge]

The solo read on this organ is astonishing as is Michel Chapuis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdmxckFTm1c

[bioluminescentsquid]

The solo read on this organ is astonishing as is Michel Chapuis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdmxckFTm1c

It's certainly an amazing organ, even has 32' manual stops. Are you familiar with Kei Koito's Art of Fugue or Leonhardt's recording on this organ?

[dissily Mordentroge]

It's certainly an amazing organ, even has 32' manual stops. Are you familiar with Kei Koito's Art of Fugue or Leonhardt's recording on this organ?

Not familiar with Koito but I have several of Leonhardt's recordings somewhere in my collection (11,500 odd LP's & an uncounted number of CD''s)
I'll dig up Leonhardt's tonight. Just consulted my LP spreadsheet . I only have Leonhardt's Goldberg Variations on LP BWV 998. My CD's I haven't put onto a spreadsheet yet and they're in a state of confusion anyhow due to renovations. Would you care to recommend a specific recording/s I should acquire? CD or download or LP?

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

OOOOO baby!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk4iVold0eU

[dissily Mordentroge]

OOOOO baby!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk4iVold0eU

Do you always get so excited over an attractive young lady playing with an organ?

[prémont]

Do you always get so excited over an attractive young lady playing with an organ?

Probably most often when it's his own.

[dissily Mordentroge]

Nothing wrong with a solo performance.

[dissily Mordentroge]

Now let's get serious people.
How I wish there were more organ videos produced with the stops being used appearing on one side of the screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAGq9xnGj-Y
And how I wish we had a video  of Arp Schnitger and his team constructing one of his instruments.
This will have to do :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHEY3AoqHrY

[bioluminescentsquid]

OOOOO baby!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk4iVold0eU

Saw her in concert just recently. I have to say, portative organ still isn't my thing - but her harpsichord playing is phenomenal.

[Mandryka]

I saw her play her organ in a concert a couple of years ago with Servir Antico, and really didn't enjoy it. Everything seemed flat, no relief. But friends of mine, some of whom are really much more involved in early music than I am - people who play portative organ in ensembles etc - seemed to love her and couldn't see my problem. And she seems to get good people to work with her - e.g. Marc Mauillon. So I put it down to a bad seat in the church and dyspepsia after too much Dutch ale.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

What kind of Dutch ale do you like? Our new local boooze superstore has a phenomenal selection of beers and I am enjoying trying them out. My favorite recent discovery is Ayinger Doppelbock Celebrator--probably my favorite beer after Guinness.

I actually just bought an MP3 album by Ms. Vicens--music by Byrd, Bull, and Gibbons. I am enjoying it greatly, although I am far from an expert in this repertiore. She plays some virginals and other goodies here as well. See what you think:

https://www.amazon.com/Parthenia-Catalina-Vicens/dp/B00CX1N9U2/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=catalina+vicens&qid=1576013904&sr=8-2

[dissily Mordentroge]

I can't take more than a few minutes of any of the harpsichord tracks due to the fools of recording engineers stuffing their mikes INSIDE the damned thing.