J.S. Bach on the Organ

[Antoine Marchand]

It says 1986 edition on the back panel of the CD.

It could be the production date. But my knowledge is just "virtual" at the moment.

[Bulldog]

I do not have any organ pieces by Weinberger and as such have no clue as to how he plays and how fast is fast. 

Some of Weinberger's recordings are must-haves:  Vols. 3-5 and a fantastic Art of Fugue.  As for his general style, I'd call it severe and sharp.

[Coopmv]

Some of Weinberger's recordings are must-haves:  Vols. 3-5 and a fantastic Art of Fugue.  As for his general style, I'd call it severe and sharp.

BACH Complete Organ Works. Gerhard Weinberger. CPO 22cds

So this set is actually quite recent.  Is the SQ quite uniform across all 22 discs?

[Bulldog]

BACH Complete Organ Works. Gerhard Weinberger. CPO 22cds

So this set is actually quite recent.  Is the SQ quite uniform across all 22 discs?

On some of the discs, the acoustic is rather swimmy and damages detail.  I've got most of the discs in the series, but with hindsight, I would have been just as happy with only those volumes I recommended.

[jlaurson]

On some of the discs, the acoustic is rather swimmy and damages detail.  I've got most of the discs in the series, but with hindsight, I would have been just as happy with only those volumes I recommended.

I haven't noticed much variation in the rather good SQ. I may not have listened very intently to every disc, but I did listen to the whole set in over a few days... in close enough proximity to notice aberrations.

[Coopmv]

On some of the discs, the acoustic is rather swimmy and damages detail.  I've got most of the discs in the series, but with hindsight, I would have been just as happy with only those volumes I recommended.

In hindsight, I should have picked up all the singles by Marie-Claire Alain since I now have a little less than half of the entire works.  Back in the mid to late 80's, when those CD's were released one at a time, it took a bit of vigilance not to miss any new release.

[Coopmv]

So how does Gerhard Weinberger stack up against Helmut Walcha?  I thought Walcha was a class act and lately I find Marie-Claire Alain probably belongs in that special class as well ...

[jlaurson]

So how does Gerhard Weinberger stack up against Helmut Walcha?  I thought Walcha was a class act and lately I find Marie-Claire Alain probably belongs in that special class as well ...

You can't really compare professorial, historically informed Weinberger on Silbermann and other 'original' organs and the "old school" Walcha grandezza d'Bacho. You could think of it as a complement or the antidote.

[Coopmv]

You can't really compare professorial, historically informed Weinberger on Silbermann and other 'original' organs and the "old school" Walcha grandezza d'Bacho. You could think of it as a complement or the antidote.

Wolfgang Rubsam has been professor of organ at Northwestern and was a student of both Helmut Walcha and Marie-Claire Alain.  I find his organ playing quite inspiring too ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_R%C3%BCbsam

[Coopmv]

How come there has been hardly any mention of Ton Koopman?  Isn't he one of the important and currently active organists (given Leonhardt is well into his 80's, as is Marie-Claire Alain)?

[71 dB]

Some of Weinberger's recordings are must-haves:  Vols. 3-5 and a fantastic Art of Fugue.  As for his general style, I'd call it severe and sharp.

Sharp? I have volumes 9-16. They sound very soft. It pleases the ear but also blurs out complexity.

[Bulldog]

Sharp? I have volumes 9-16. They sound very soft.

So turn up the volume button.

[71 dB]

So turn up the volume button.

Soft is not same as quiet and loud is not same as sharp. Turning up the volume would give louder softness.

[nut-job]

I have too many recordings of the Bach organ works to be justified, so some are going on the auction block. 

This may not be the most sensible thing, but I tend to use a few of the more obscure pieces that are my particular favorites as a benchmark.  The Trio sonatas are among them, also the Canzone in d-minor and the Alla Breve. 

The Canzone is an archaic style fugue, and Alain is a nightmare, soupy recording, extremely intrusive ornamentation all over the place, unlistenable in my opinion.   

Another complete set I have is Walcha, and he does a very decent job of the Canzone, and the sound is good.  Unfortunately this set does not have uniformly good audio quality, with some of the recordings exhibiting annoying distortion of bad frequency balance.  Walcha is staying for the gems that are in the set, although I can't consider it a really complete set, some of it sounds too bad for me to enjoy listening to.

I also have a set by George Ritchie on Raven records.  This guy is unknown and I get the impression that the record label positions itself as an audiophile outfit.  The set seems to be conceived partly as a showcase for modern American organs.  Actually it is satisfying because the modern organs are very nicely made, and the guy performs with skill.  Not inspiring, perhaps,  but it sounds good and you can hear what Bach has written.

I also have a few random discs which I auditioned.  Herrick's Canzone is rather fast, not bad in terms of his performance style, but the recording is too reverberant for my taste.  I won't be getting any more from him. 

I also have volume 11 of Weinberger's set, which I think is absolutely spectacular.  There is less resonance than you tend to hear in organ recordings, which I like.  His performance also brings out individual voices better than any of the others I listened to today.  I think I will be getting his complete cycle with the proceeds of the Alain sale.   I must admit I find a lot of the comments about his set on this thread quite puzzling.  The audio engineering I find excellent (at least in volume 11) and his performance is exactly to my taste.

One recording that I have to mention is the old Richter on Decca (recorded in the 1950's) using the organ in Victoria Hall in Geneva (home of the OSR).  Includes the Passacaglia and Fugue in c-minor.   Wow, just superb.

[prémont]

Sharp? I have volumes 9-16. They sound very soft. It pleases the ear but also blurs out complexity.

As far as I can read, Don talks about Weinberger´s style of interpretation, calling it sharp. I can fully agree with this.

And as far as I can see, you are talking about the character of the sound , and I do not find it that soft. What do you use for reference?

[prémont]

Interesting considerations, Nut-job. But maybe it is a bit restricted to use the Canzona as reference, -Bach´s organ works are much more than that.

[Bulldog]

Soft is not same as quiet and loud is not same as sharp. Turning up the volume would give louder softness.

Can't disagree with that logic.

[Bulldog]

I also have volume 11 of Weinberger's set, which I think is absolutely spectacular.  There is less resonance than you tend to hear in organ recordings, which I like.  His performance also brings out individual voices better than any of the others I listened to today.  I think I will be getting his complete cycle with the proceeds of the Alain sale.   I must admit I find a lot of the comments about his set on this thread quite puzzling.  The audio engineering I find excellent (at least in volume 11) and his performance is exactly to my taste.

Check out Vol. 15 - the sound environment swims with the fishes.

[71 dB]

As far as I can read, Don talks about Weinberger´s style of interpretation, calling it sharp. I can fully agree with this.

What does it mean to play organ sharp? Pressing the keys "sharply"?

And as far as I can see, you are talking about the character of the sound , and I do not find it that soft. What do you use for reference?

Rübsam on Naxos.

[Bulldog]

As far as I can read, Don talks about Weinberger´s style of interpretation, calling it sharp.

Correct.