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NEW-UP. CHANDOS. Ian Tracey, Y.P. Tortelier, BBC PO - Guilmant, Widor, Franck

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EAC-RIP | FLAC-IMAGE, CUE, LOG | 293MB
Classical | Label: Chandos | Catalog Number: CHAN 9785
RAR 3% Rec.


The 19th century in France was a heyday of construction for vast new churches and the massive organs that went with them; faith became a public display of allegiance to a particular set of values and a soul-stirring passionate music that went with them. It is, in a sense, unfortunate that the best known of all symphonies for organ and orchestra--the Saint-Saens No. 3--should be atypical, whimsically romantic rather than passionately austere and neoclassical like the Organ Symphonies of Guilmant. His Symphony No. 2 of 1874 harks overtly back to Handel for the passages of virtuoso display and the fugal scherzo. The Widor of 20 years later is far more a work of its time, sounding occasionally a little like Bruckner in its yearning woodwind runs and spiky rhythms. Tortelier has made a specialty of the French music of this period and has the sound down pat; Tracey is an admirable soloist, eloquent as well as virtuosic in the Franck solo that fills out the disc. --Roz Kaveney

01.Guilmant - Symphony No. 2 for Organ and Orchestra in A major, Op. 91: I. Introduction et allegro risoluto09:21
02.Guilmant - Symphony No. 2 for Organ and Orchestra in A major, Op. 91: II. Adagio con affetto 05:59
03.Guilmant - Symphony No. 2 for Organ and Orchestra in A major, Op. 91: III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace06:04
04.Guilmant - Symphony No. 2 for Organ and Orchestra in A major, Op. 91: IV. Andante sostenuto -02:22
05.Guilmant - Symphony No. 2 for Organ and Orchestra in A major, Op. 91: V. Intermede et allegro con brio05:03
06.Widor - Organ Symphony No. 3, Op. 69: I. Adagio - Andante - Allegro16:04
07.Widor - Organ Symphony No. 3, Op. 69: II. Vivace - Tranquillamente - Allegro - Largo13:33
08.Franck - Choral No. 2 in B minor13:08

5.0 out of 5 stars Great album for organ + symphony July 15, 2011
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It's often hard to find albums that effectively use both an orchestra and a pipe organ. The balance can be bad, the material poorly chosen, or (in some cases) the two sections don't even line up well in time from the perspective of the listener.
I've given this album five stars not because it's perfect, but because it gets the major things right. It has music that showcases both sections, the balance between the two is good, the timing is right, and overall recording quality is reasonably good. Also, the music itself is great, especially the Guilmant/Widor pieces.
If you like listening to organ and symphony together, give this album a try. I continue to enjoy it each time I listen.




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