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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Saint-Saëns: Organ Music Volume 1
Andrew-John Smith (Organ of La Madeleine, Paris) Despite his modern fame, much of Saint-Saëns’s music was under-appreciated in his lifetime, and many of his organ works remain little known. His adherence to Classical principles - enshrined in the works of his idols Bach, Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn - and his antipathy towards what he perceived as the louche modernism of the Romantic movement hardly endeared him to congregations or clergy, long gorged on the fripperies offered by contemporary organists and somewhat resistant to being ‘told what was good for them’. But as a performer his prodigious talent could not be ignored and by 1858, aged just twenty-three, he found himself at the console of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll’s brand-new organ at La Madeleine in Paris - four manuals, 48 stops and an unprecendented symphonic wall of sound lay at his disposal. (He also found the instrument, occupying the entire West wall of this enormous edifice, spacious enough to accommodate a constant stream of stars from the international musical firmament, including Liszt, Sarasate, Clara Schumann and Anton Rubinstein.) He was to hold the post for some twenty years. The earliest works in Andrew-John Smith’s programme were composed during Saint-Saëns’s tenure at La Madeleine and it is a rare delight to be able to hear them performed on the organ the composer knew and so loved (and using only the registrations available to him at the time). For later compositions Smith employs some of the subsequent additions to Cavaillé-Coll’s original conception; the effects are thrilling and reflect contemporary reports of Saint-Saëns’s own performance practice - much of it unusual then and now - as his travels took him around France playing Cavaillé-Coll’s ever-more gargantuan organistic creations. The English organist and conductor Andrew-John Smith was educated as an organ scholar at New College, Oxford and the Sweelinck Conservatorium, Amsterdam. Described by Choir & Organ magazine as ‘a rare pleasure in Britain’ he performs regularly in Europe and has recorded and broadcast as soloist and accompanist both for the BBC and abroad. A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, he has been a finalist for the Grand Prix de Chartres, and a prize-winner at the Royal College of Organists’ ‘Performer of the Year’ and the St Albans’ International Organ Festival. This is his first recording for Hyperion. “[Saint-Saens' preludes, fugues and fantasies] are brilliantly played by the hugely talented Smith on the great Cavaille-Coll instrument that Saint-Saens knew.” The Observer, 13th July 2008 “…Smith's warm and sympathetic rubato is a constant delight, and his inspired choice to make the recording on an instrument played regularly be Saint-Saëns means that listeners can relish the authentic Gallic tones of the splendid La Madeleine organ.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008 “Andrew-John Smith's clever programming alternates the Three Preludes and Fugues, Op 99, with the three Fantaisies and other works. Wisely, he begins and ends the CD with the loudest and most extrovert pieces, namely the E flat major Prelude and Fugue and the E flat Fantaisie. In between there are long stretches of quiet, introspective music, and listeners may long for the more dramatic compositions of Franck, Vierne or Widor. However, at his best Saint-Saëns has an originality and charm all his own; possibly no other French organistcomposer could have produced the delicate beauty of the B major Prelude or the Bénédictionnuptiale.
It's clear from his highly detailed bookletnotes plus his polished and stylish performances that Smith is an enthusiastic advocate of Saint- Saëns. What prevents this CD achieving its fullest impact is a cautious approach by player and sound engineers to the cavernous acoustic of the church of La Madeleine. The potential loss of detail leads Smith to adopt tempi which are sometimes slower than the composer's moderato and sans lenteur markings. Meanwhile the 1846 four-manual 58-stop Cavaillé-Coll organ is recorded close-up, and although we gain clarity we lose the sense of grandeur with a large instrument ringing around a massive edifice.
On the plus side, Smith's warm and sympathetic rubato is a constant delight, and his inspired choice to make the recording on an instrument played regularly by Saint-Saëns means that listeners can relish the authentic Gallic tones of the splendid La Madeleine organ.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Saint-Saëns - Complete Organ Works & Motets, Volume 4
Vincent Genvrin (organ Cavaille-Coll, Santa Maria la Real d’Azkoitia) | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Saint-Saëns: Complete Organ Works
Saint-Saëns: | Marche religieuse, Op. 107 Rhapsodies (3) on Breton Themes, Op. 7 Fantaisie en mi Fantaisie No. 2 for organ in D flat major, Op. 101 Fantaisie No. 3 for organ in C major, Op. 157 Preludes and Fugues (3), Op. 99 Preludes and Fugues (3), Op. 109 Benediction Nuptiale in F major, Op. 9 Improvisations (7), Op. 150 Cyprès, Op. 156 No. 1 Elevation Ou Communion in E major, Op. 13 |
The infinite cosmos of French organ music is Ben van Oosten's realm, and he now has recorded the complete organ works of Camille Saint-Saens presented in a sumptuous box set. He performs on the Cavaille Coll organ in Ste. Madeleine in Paris. Priced at 3 CDs for 2. “one of the chief attractions of Ben van Oosten's survey of the (almost) complete organ works is that they are performed on the magnificent Cavaille-Coll in La Madeleine that the composer knew so well...[the recorded sound is] of demonstration quality and wall-shaking sonority, with full and imaginative use made of the vast resources of symphonic colours on offer.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2013 “This Saint-Saëns set is made that bit more special through being performed on an instrument that he would have known very well...The sound is rich and atmospheric, with plenty of juicy bass, gorgeous contrasts of colour and texture and enough detail to communicate the music without sounding overly close and artificial.” MusicWeb International, 22nd April 2013 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Saint-Saens: Complete Music for Piano and Orchestraand chamber and orchestral pieces for various instruments
| | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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