The Gramophone Choice

Coupled with Suite française, d’après Claude Gervaise. Concert champêtre* 

Philippe Lefebvre org *Elisabeth Chojnacka hpd Lille Symphony Orchestra / Jean-Claude Casadesus

Naxos 8 554241 (59‘ · DDD). Buy from Amazon

Elisabeth Chojnacka gets off to a head start against most others who have recorded the ­Concert champêtre by using the right kind of instrument: she understands that it’s much sillier to play newish music on a period instrument than old music on a modern one. The effective proportions secured here between her deft playing and the orchestra also owe much to Jean-Claude Casadesus’s nice sense of judgement and to the work of an excellent recording team. 

It was particularly perverse of Poulenc to ask a harpsichord to contend with large brass and percussion sections and then, a decade later, employ only strings and timpani in his concerto for the intrinsically far more powerful organ; and that perversity is underlined here by using the massive organ of Notre Dame, Paris – though once again the recording technicians have skilfully succeeded in producing a string sonority that doesn’t suffer beside the organ’s awesome thunders. You can’t help wondering whether Poulenc really had such a giant sound in mind but it’s undeniably thrilling, and the quieter moments are captured with commendable clarity and calm. From the interpretative point of view, it’s quite a performance. The wind and percussion of the Lille orchestra get a chance to demonstrate their quality in accomplished playing of the spry dances of the Suite française.

Additional Recommendations

Coupled with Respighi Suite for Organ and Strings Rheinberger Organ Concerto No 1, Op 137

Peter King org BBC National Orchestra of Wales / François-Xavier Roth 

Regent REGCD257 (70’ · DDD). Played on the Klais organ of Bath Abbey. Buy from Amazon

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Klais organ in Bath Abbey, Regent released this BBC recording of the Abbey’s director of music, Peter King, putting it through its paces in 2007. It’s been tidied up for this reissue and tackles the competition pretty much head on.

In the case of the Respighi Suite, thrill to the wonderfully gutsy roar as King lets rip on the Klais, and as Roth drives the BBC NOW along, probably knowing that by this stage Respighi’s inspiration had pretty well dried up but doing his damnedest to wring every last drop of ­interest from it. With rich, opulent sound and a magnificent balance between organ and orchestra, here’s a recording that almost makes one think this is a work worth hearing again.

From the proud, regal opening of Rheinberger’s First Concerto, through the magical Andante with its shimmering horns to the happy, life-affirming finale, this is a performance notable for a real ­feeling of collective involvement in the music. You don’t often get that sense of intimacy and fellow-feeling with an organ concerto; you do here and, when we add to the mix a potent ­Poulenc, fired by King’s splendid use of registration and Roth’s Gallic fervour, not to mention the customary excellence of the BBC NOW, you have a disc of real distinction.

Coupled with Saint-Saëns Symphony No 3, ‘Organ’ Barber Toccata festiva

Olivier Latry org Philadelphia Orchestra / Christoph Eschenbach

Ondine ODE1094-5 (79’ · DDD/DSD). Recorded live 2006. Buy as a download from Amazon

Eschenbach’s Poulenc is heavily romanticised, squeezing every last drop of pathos from the score and finding many moments of ravishing beauty. Latry is, for the most part, a willing accomplice and he clearly relishes Eschenbach’s slow tempi in reaching the work’s two powerful climaxes. The organ shows its stature with palpable depth in the first movement and majestic presence in the finale; but the real star of the show here is the Philadelphia Orchestra itself. 

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