Gillian Weir plays The Grand Organ of the Royal Albert Hall

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…Liszt's Ad nos… is magisterial, its 30-minute span commandingly paced, its grandeur and rhapsody held in equilibrium. As for the concluding Toccata by Marcel Lanquetuit, move over Widor! When... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2005, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 31st Jul 2005
Catalogue No: PRCD859
Label: Priory
Length: 77 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

July 2005

Editor's Choice

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Liszt: Fantasia and Fugue on ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam', S259

Work length28:21

Album only

Gillian Weir

Excerpt, Liszt: Legendes (2) for piano, S. 175

Work length10:33

$3.00

$3.85

Gillian Weir

No. 2, St. François de Paule marchant sur les flots (Arr. for Organ)

Track length10:33

$3.00

$3.85

Excerpt, Howells: Three Rhapsodies

Work length7:23

$2.00

$2.60

Gillian Weir

No. 3, Moderato, ma appassionata

Track length7:23

$2.00

$2.60

Parry: Toccata & Fugue in G Major "The Wanderer"

Work length14:04

$3.00

$3.85

Gillian Weir

Cook, John: Fanfare for Organ

Work length4:33

$1.00

$1.30

Gillian Weir

Excerpt, Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36

Work length4:15

$1.00

$1.30

Gillian Weir

Var. 9, Nimrod (Arr. for Organ)

Track length4:15

$1.00

$1.30

Excerpt, Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos. 1-5, Op. 39

Work length3:38

$1.00

$1.30

Gillian Weir

No. 1 in D Major (Arr. for Organ)

Track length3:38

$1.00

$1.30

Lanquetuit: Toccata in D major

Work length5:01

$1.00

$1.30

Gillian Weir

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First Recording Of The Restored Organ

Reviews

September 2005

…Liszt's Ad nos… is magisterial, its 30-minute span commandingly paced, its grandeur and rhapsody held in equilibrium. As for the concluding Toccata by Marcel Lanquetuit, move over Widor! When word gets out, this humunguously glorious earful is going to rocket up the wedding charts.

2010

The sight and sound of the Royal Albert Hall organ are familiar to Proms-goers, but for those who regard it as merely a noisy backdrop to the orchestral works of Elgar, Mahler, Strauss and others, this CD will come as a revelation.
There's a wealth of colourful quiet registers on the newly restored instrument which are fully exploited by Dame Gillian Weir, including a soft percussion Carillon stop heard during Liszt's Ad nos Fantasia.
She gives this giant composition a truly authentic 19th-century Romantic-style performance, with an unhurried approach to the slow middle movement and rhythmic virtuosity in the rapid outer sections. The vast tutti of the organ makes the C major conclusion even more glorious than usual and her account of this piece is one of the most spectacular you'll ever hear.
The other solo works are equally successful.
Howells's Rhapsody is passionate and eloquent, and Parry's Toccata and Fugue has a dignified flow. In comparison, Cook and Lanquetuit's pieces may seem lightweight, but the former has some attractive jazzy elements and the latter is as dazzling a French toccata as you'd hear from Dupré, Widor et al. Meanwhile, the transcriptions of Elgar and Liszt are entirely convincing thanks to Weir's skill as a colourist.
Priory has done the RAH organ proud with an excellent recording and a comprehensive booklet.
One must salute the endurance of Weir and engineer Paul Crichton for making this disc during the hall's only available hours – 1am to 6am. This is an exceptionally fine CD that should become a landmark recording.

Gillian Weir plays The Grand Organ of the Royal Albert Hall

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