Maurice Duruflé - Complete Organ Works (Friedhelm Flamme)

Information

Composer: Maurice Duruflé

• (01) Suite, Op. 5
• (04) Chant Donné - Hommage à Jean Gallon
• (05) Méditation
• (06) Prélude sur I'Introït de I'Épiphanie, Op. 13
• (07) Scherzo, Op. 2
• (08) Fugue sur le thème du Carillion des Heures de la Cathédrale de Soissons, Op. 12
• (09) Prélude, Adagio et Choral varie sur le thème du 'Veni Creator', Op. 4
• (12) Prélude et fugue sur le nom d'Alain, Op. 7

Friedhelm Flamme, organ
Date: 2004
Label: cpo

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

If your system is a little shy in the bass, forget this disc. On the other hand, if you have a good setup and you enjoy organ music even a little, you are going to fall in love with this disc. The Mühleisen organ at the church of Bad Gandershein was built in 2000. The booklet note advises us that the manufacturer was awarded the “Meilleurs ouvriers de France” distinction for this instrument. They were being too modest: had they said “Europe” instead of “France”, this organ would have deserved the accolade.

Such sumptuous sonorities, such perfect integration of the instrument within its acoustic environment, and what a recording! The engineers have achieved a miracle here, capturing a richness consistent throughout the entire sound spectrum, placing the organ ideally within its natural space. The recording never sounds “engineered” specifically for playback on disc, nor is it self-consciously a sonic spectacular for its own sake. This is one of those rare efforts when all of the technical parameters just went right, and this is as true of the stereo recording as it is of the even more evocative SACD multichannel version.

Under these auspicious circumstances, organist Friedrich Flamme rises to the occasion admirably. The discography of Duruflé organ works certainly has grown in recent years, with notable versions by Lecaudey in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (Sony), Schmidt (Aeolus), Pincemaille (Motette), and excerpts recorded by Escaich (Calliope). I wouldn’t say that Flamme eclipses all of these, but his instrument is infinitely more supple and rich than Lecaudey’s, and clearly better captured on disc than Schmidt’s.

Flamme also knows, by his choice of registrations and his patience, how to evoke both the mystery and gentle mysticism of this music–as in the sublime Adagio from Op. 4 and the suddenly brilliant Toccata from the Suite Op. 5. In contrapuntal works, such as the Prélude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain, the clarity of texture and steady buildup of tension are irresistible. This is a marvelous disc, and if you’ve been waiting for a great organ recording to test on your system, this is it.

-- Christophe Huss, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/durufl%C3%A9-complete-organ-works
http://www.classical-music.com/review/durufl%C3%A9-2-edit
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Aug04/Durufle_organ.htm
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Organ-Works-DURUFLE/dp/B000269QU2

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Maurice Duruflé (11 January 1902 – 16 June 1986) was a French composer, organist, and teacher. An organ pupil of Charles Tournemire and Eugène Gigout, he was a lifelong friend and an assistant of Louis Vierne at Notre-Dame and titular organist of St-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris. In 1939, he premiered Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto which he had advised on organ part. As a composer, Duruflé was highly critical of his own composition and only published a handful of them. His organ music, tends to be well polished, and is still frequently performed in concerts by organists around the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Durufl%C3%A9

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Friedhelm Flamme (born 1963 in Volkmarsen, Germany) is a German organist, choral conductor and teacher. He studied church music and organ at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and the Universität Paderborn. Since 1991 Flamme has worked as a church musician in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, and, since 2002, a lecturer at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold. He has conducted numerous vocal concerts, especially performances of Bach's oratorios with the South Lower Saxony vocal ensemble. As an organist, Flamme performs in Europe and overseas, has a wide repertoire and an extensive discography.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedhelm_Flamme
https://friedhelmflamme.org/

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