Aristide Cavaillé-Coll’s masterpiece in Saint Sulpice is no stranger to the recording microphone, ever since the aged Widor was persuaded to cut two precious waxes there for HMV in 1932. Since then its swirling, cavernous acoustic has challenged many a sound engineer. For Signum Andrew Mellor has managed to capture an ideal balance, not so distant that everything becomes a faint blur and not so close that the chattering of the Barker Motor action distracts and detracts. With its 101 stops spread over five manuals this organ offers an incredibly rich palette of sounds. Joseph Nolan’s Romantic programme opens with Boëllmann’s ever-popular Suite gothique. The “Minuet” and “Prière” are particularly well poised and shaped, while the opening of the final Toccata purrs gently like a well oiled sewing machine before growing and growling like a mighty behemoth.

The two English items work especially well on this instrument. Ivor Atkins’s 1932 transformation of Elgar’s Severn Suite into the Organ Sonata No 2 has since been superseded by Jeremy Cull’s more faithful transcription. However, Nolan adds a hint of Worcester sauce to his Parisian gastronomy to good effect. The greatest revelations on the disc are the linked pair of pieces by Thalben-Ball. The Poema floats exquisitely and atmospherically preparing the ear for the distinctly Francophile and sparkling flavours of the Toccata Beorma.

The centrepiece of the programme is Liszt’s mighty Fantasy and Fugue on Ad nos. Despite Nolan’s committed interpretation I am not convinced that this effusion is anything more than vacuous waffle, though brilliantly played.