Concerto en sol mineur pour orgue, orchestre à cordes et timbales (concerto in G minor for organ, string orchestra, and timpani) Organ: Maurice Duruflé Orchestre National de l'Office de la Radio Télévision Française (ORTF) Georges Prêtre
I bought this when it was released as an LP and during an era where I was spending money I didn't have on high end stereo components and speakers. It was breathtaking then and with each passing year as I spent even more money I didn't have on even better equipment, this album was one of my "test" albums. If you EVER have the opportunity to listen to this on a really good sound system you will be blown away. Of course the organ is impressive but what I most remember were the strings in the orchestra. Razor sharp. And the tempo! Flawless!
The greatest performance of this work, ever. Poulenc consulted with Duruflé while composing the work with regard to the registration of the solo instrument. This recording was made in Poulenc's presence so it had his personal seal of approval. Accept no imitations!!
I have loved this incredible piece for as long as I can remember, and I am especially excited to have discovered this recording on RU-vid - it's the very one I had on LP as a teenager, and which I still have in my collection. Utterly brilliant performance. The best.
One of my favourite performances of this brilliant Poulenc Concerto. I had it on LP as a teenager (still have the disk in my archive). RIP Georges Prêtre, your music lives on forever.
Pretre has a very personal style. always inspired and warm...his influence is essential here. He never conducted one uninspired note..A very great (and sympathetic) master.. Thank you for all of those magnificent performances and R.I.P.
Some parts are sweet and yet menacing, tension-building up and finally coming to a conclusion. I love the contradictions in the music of Poulenc. It makes me having goosebumps all over.......
+Wiebe Djembe This is Poulenc spitting in the face of the German's occupation. Long live the Spirit of Liberty. To hell with the great mordant (A-G-A) related to the Great Toccata in D minor. Long live the simple songs of first avenue of Paris. Long live the left bank. The moon light and the Last Time I Saw Paris. CVD
Charles Davis. You nailed it! I hadn't considered the connection between the spirit of this piece and the German occupation. A brilliant assessment. Thank you!
Historically the times were getting darker during the composition of the concerto (1934-1938). In 1938, year of the first performance (however private), Europe witnessed dramatic events like the Anschluss, the Munich agreements about the progressive dismantling of Czechoslovakia and the infamous Kristallnacht. Two years earlier, in 1936, his friend and composer Pierre-Octave Ferroud was found dead in a car accident in Hungary. In response, Poulenc wrote to his memory the “Litanies à la Vierge Noire” for choir and organ, premiered the same year. Probably Poulenc was influenced by those events which justifies the anxious (or even tragic) character of this concerto.
Cette version couplée avec le Gloria du même compositeur a cinquante ans, se porte bien et n'avoue pas son âge. A mon avis la meilleure prestation jamais enregistrée même si d'autres sont très recommandables.
This organ is perfect for French organ music. Superb reed stops. The Church of St. Etienne-du-Mont, Paris, where Durufle was organist for most of his life.
huuuuuummmmmmm.....wwwwwoooooooowwwwwww.............++++++++++++++++.....what the hevens...the sonic painting...the discorse....mimute 15:04....min 19:57on to the .....the ...what 'd heven.....thanks to whoever uploded this.....thanks youtub!!!!!!
Can't get anything more authentic than Durufle playing this marvellous work and a great recording as a bonus. I wonder if it was recorded at St. Etienne du Mont but I guess more likely at the Salle Wagram.
One of my goals is to travel to France, visit the great cathedrals and hear these great instruments live. There is no other way to experience the full power of their sound.
+E Mack Absolutely right about that. I've been fortunate to hear the organ played in St. Eustache, (one of my favourite Paris buildings) St. Sulpice (Where Widor was organist pre WW2) and La Madeleine.
One needs to research the existing Cavaille-Col organs and find out when there are recitals, always worth stopping in to a church and listening to whomever plays...
An absolute brilliant recording! This is also credited in this article, which puts this particular recording above all others: www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/poulencs-organ-concerto-which-recording-is-best In my opinion the slow tempi contribute to the haunting spirit of this performance.
Unfortunately, the organ was tuned at A=444.85 while the strings were way up at A=452.11. This is most jarring in the exchanges e.g. around 8:00, which are really disturbing. It suggests that the organ was recorded separately and mixed later. Probably not, but plausible. Pristine Classical remastered the recording with the pitches matched where possible, and it really makes a difference. It saves the finest (by a good measure!) recorded performance of the work. (Oy, just got to 15:04. Painfully flat!)
Thanks for this comment. How can you be so accurate? do you have absolute pitch or did you analyze the recording? I think you are right though, especially at 8:00. I could feel something was off but could not pinpoint it. It's not jarring to lay persons as me when not comparing, but it sounds a bit off, you don't even need a HiFi top notch gear to hear it. Whatever the recording shortcomings, it's one of my fav organ pieces and gives me the chills every time over the decades.
Oftentimes, the mean tone, or tuning effect being slightly altered has a positive impact on the performance itself. Angel was chosen to do this recording through EMI and the standards were always set high. The Saint-Saens Organ Symphony was also done using the same forces, but no performance of it can come close to the Boston Symphony's rendition with Charles Munch on RCA Victor.
This is French Music in complete defiance of German (Bach's great Toccata and Fugue in D minor) Music. Listen to an occupied France and how Poulenc shot down the German authorities with every note. Total defiance. The great mordent ( A-G-A) utterly destroyed. Listen! Long live Liberty. Long live the streets of Paris.
+Charles Davis FrancisPoulenc composed his Organ Concerto between 1934-1938; the German Occupation of France ran from 1940-1944. There are several great Poulenc works written in direct response to the Occupation, notably Figure Humaine (for chorus) and the Two Poems of Louis Aragon (for solo voice and piano); the Organ Concerto is not one of them. Thank you.
