Olivier Latry (titular organist at Notre-Dame de Paris) had a recital in Turku Cathedral on Sunday evening in 9th of February. I do not own this recording.
I went to Turku as a mere tourist a few years back, and when I asked about the organ, I was told that the organist was on his way to the cathedral to practice, and that I could meet him and talk to him. He arrived and was most gracious, inviting me up to the loft for a personal tour and demo! I really couldn't judge the organ's sound from so close up, but it was a fun time!
@@guessouiam7738 Mostly wouldn't say ugly but the Chamades are thinner than they were back then. New Germanic Organs have very loud reeds like Wurzburg Cathedral those chamades can pack a punch. Also I do agree Vierne is now unrecognizable but mostly I think it is the registration choice. But mostly overall the organ can be muddied if you are playing any piece too fast.
L'enregistrement🎶🌸🌿 historique 🍒🌹⛑et inégalable📚💮🏵 de cette symphonie🌺🎶💐🧭 est Celle du GRANDISSIME MAÎTRE🌹🇻🇦💒🇨🇵🌹 ORGANISTE CATHOLIQUE PIERRE COCHEREAU (1924-1984)🏵🦁🪢 TITULAIRE DES GRANDES ORGUES HISTORIQUES DE LA BASILIQUE METROPOLITAINE DE NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS🌹🎶💐🪢🌸⛑🍒🌿💮📚🇻🇦✝️🇨🇵🌺🤗🕊🦁🎨🧭🏵🌺🎶🙋♂️ !!!
how a great organist can play right into an organ they just met days before as if they've played said instrument for 20 years is beyond me. I heard Mssr. Latry on a good but rather nondescript (hardly world class) organ in suburban Chicago about a year ago and I still can't get over where he took me.
Keep in mind that you cannot judge the sound qualities of an organ fully from a simple sound recording. The properties of the microphones and the placement play a big role. I see that some of you know the organ personally, ok. I sang there with a boys choir 30 years ago, and I had the reverb being much longer in mind ... A brain can play tricks ... But: In my hometown they only repainted the white walls of a church, and then the organ sounded too aggressive. The old paint had had more pores and absorbed the high frequencies more than the new one. It now sounds a bit like a cheap organ. In another church of my hometown they remade part of the walls and discovered that some absorbing material had been placed around the windows, under the plastering, without being visible. They removed it now and gained half a second of reverb or so. Maybe something of this kind has also happened to Turku cathedral?
I don't think that they modified the Turku cathedral, since it's an historical building. Maybe they just used cardioid mics, instead of supercardioid or omni
This instrument has such a disappointing sound. St. Michael's organ in Turku or the organ of the central church in Björneborg have the right kind of sound this cathedral would deserve.
You are right - I also think exactly the same. This organ, it is a random neo-baroque mess. It does not have a powerful enough pedal, especially 32' reed. The smooth flutes are almost non-existent. Chamades are decent, and on top of that the console is ugly. But thats just my opinion
@@henrikheikkinen I just read the organ's specification and technical details. One can only wonder why they've included an insignificant Brustwerk, which merely looks like waste of space (and air). At St. Michael's there are over 20 fewer stops but the sound is round, rich, all-embracing instead of this squeaky, thin and poor one without proper foundation.
@@docteurmiracle5899 exactly. Same thing in Lapua cathedral organ - check that out. Currently biggest organ in Finland, but its specification is similar to this organ and the cathedral certainly isnt big enough for the organ. It can be just as well called a church.
Well, the builder was asked to take part at the bidding contest just to have at least one Finnish builder in it to make the critics quiet. To his utter amazement mr Virtanen was chosen to build it, and he had never built anything of this size in his garage shed. This is the result.
@@mhakanpaa IMHO this organ should be re-built or modified in order to make the sound richer and rounder, with a proper foundation. Like, what's the meaning of two mixture stops in the Positif, instead of another nice 8-foot flue? Couldn't one pedal mixture and one insignificant flute cede their places for another bass flue stop, like a juicy 16-foot Violon? If I had the means, I'd immediately make a donation to replace that 32' reed with something more important.
1. whoever voiced this instrument should get 20 years hard labor. 2. The largest division should be the "SWELL". The second-largest should be the " choir" organ. the third-largest should be the "PEDAL"" organ. the fourth largest should be the "POSITIVE" And the smallest should be the 'GREAT" organ. Of course, this is not set in stone and is just my thoughtful opinion on the subject. Also, I'm referencing an instrument more or less like this one. This might shock many people, but I feel an organ of fewer than 100 ranks should not have more than 3 manuals. 50 years of experience had led me to this view.
I agree that 4th manual is necessary only with a good reason. There isnt any sense in a 30-60 stop organ having 4 manuals, its only needed in very large organs. For example, in Notre-Dame de Paris, the 32' and 16' harmonic mixtures and other stops on the 4th and 5th manual are a really important part of the sound.
I just looked at the stoplist, and I don't see anything unusual about it, from a European, large-organ perspective. Except for a few terms in Finnish, it's the kind of organ that Klais, Rieger and some others have built many times. As far as console size, there are many reasons to have more than 3 manuals, if that makes sense for the overall layout. There are great, historic organs in France with 5 manuals, where 2 or 3 of them only have 1, 2, or 3 stops! Would you rebuild them, and knock them down to 2 manuals & pedal? No, I thought not.
Yes, it's not unreasonable that this large organ has 4 manuals. As for the historic organs, im sure there is more reasons why they put more manuals, not just for of the amount of stops. But my preference is 3 manuals.
@@EElgar1857 The 4th manual of this organ is a "Brustwerk" with neither a character nor an acoustic meaning for this instrument. Rather 10 stops less with a proper bass foundation.
@@docteurmiracle5899 I don't disagree with you; I like a much warmer, more romantic type of sound myself, but this organ is a creature of its time, when adherence to historical (baroque) models was all the rage. Read "Werkprinzip". Many great romantic organs by Sauer, Walcker and others were left un-restored, un-loved, and often completely out of use. But tastes are changing again, and some of the finest of these instruments have now been restored, so that we can enjoy them!
Perhaps you should give your rendition of this Piece up next to that of Mssr. Latry's? Then we can get a true assessment of who is the true organist and who is the presumptuous phony and pompous windbag! How dare you😂
