Great Music, Great Playing...But, A French Romantic organ--i
R. Wyatt | Belmont, NC United States | 03/01/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I purchased this CD from a reseller on Amazon.com after first auditioning the entire album on Last.fm...In a word, it is excellent; a very idiomatic and virtuosic performance of two seldom-heard organ symphonies by Charles-Marie Widor. I prefer Hans Fagius's performance of these pieces even over Ben van Oosten's excellent readings of the Second (Widor: Das Orgelwerke, Vol.1) and Eighth (Widor: Complete Organ Works Vol. 5)
This, despite van Oosten having the advantage of the Cavaille-Coll organ of Saint-Ouen-de-Rouen. The organ Fagius uses for this recording is a modern marvel, an Akerman & Lund instrument built in the mid-90's, it "speaks French" quite convincingly, and while a bit "smoother" than a Cavaille-Coll, does not lack any quality or quantity of tone to present the appropriate sonic palette for these works (so what IS it with all these French-sounding organs in Scandinavian countries anyway?).
Enthusiastically recommended."