Enjoy an organ that's the equal of Notre Dame's playing opera 15 Dec 2024 free of charge online.

[@daynight4902]

WOW

[@AccessArtsLive]

@@daynight4902 Yes. That's what WE thought. 👍

[@barnarus2547]

The music from ND at the opening was a homage to Cochereau, arguably the greatest artist to ever play there...since Vierne.

[@AccessArtsLive]

Well, I would not presume to engage in any argument about who was the greatest artist ever to play the organ at Notre Dame Cathedral. There were a lot of organ lovers, though, who criticized the choice of music on the occasion, feeling that it was a unique opportunity to show off more of what the instrument is capable of by drawing on more of the rich French organ repertoire. It was a chance to reach a far more enormous broadcast audience than is likely to gather again soon, if ever. As for me, having attended an organ concert at St. Sulpice in Paris, as well as at St. Eustache, for me, the sheer sound quality at St. Sulpice is superior to both Notre Dame and St. Eustache. Are you familiar with it?

[@barnarus2547]

@@AccessArtsLive By recordings only. Eustache is just an awesome instrument...fabulously built by VDH. Sulspice is the classic big CC, majestic 32, reedy and perfect for Widor performances. Would love to see Roth play in person, but I'm too late.

[@AccessArtsLive]

@@barnarus2547 Thus touches on an issue yet to be resolved with livestreaming: how to capture and transmit the authentic sound in the acoustics of the performance space: the sound as heard in person. Often this is not even the goal of the producers; they want to create a sanitized, enhanced film/television sound which is not real. Some people prefer that, but I would rather see much more attention paid to recreating the differing acoustics of different spaces.

[@PipeDreamerJacques]

St. Eustache is far superior to ND, IMHO. It is terribly powerful, has a breadth of tone, and has a case that is drastically more impressive than ND. It is my favorite organ in the world.

[@AccessArtsLive]

Well, that's interesting. Thanks for this insight. You're the first I've heard to say so---though the hundreds of Parisians who show up in person for these recitals may agree. However, the folks at St. Eustache are trying very hard to get their Van Den Heuvel organ renovated. A few weeks ago, Thomas Ospital, one of their titular organists, opted not to post the replay of the weekly organ recital he did because at least one note got stuck during the performance (that I noticed, there may have been more disfunctions that he or a more trained expert would have noticed). Have you heard the organ at St. Sulpice in Paris, by the way? I wandered into a recital there (not entirely by chance) and the sound was...superb, just superb, regardless of the music being played. By the way, if you care to support the renovation fundraising for St. Eustache, you can have a pipe named after you in return for a donation!