Rolande Falcinelli is a name I suspect may not be hugely familiar
beyond the world of organists, and French organist/composers
in particular. The Hortus label has been raising her profile
in recent times and these pages carry Chris Bragg’s review of
her recital on Hortus
038. There is a programme of her own compositions which
has appeared on Hortus
059 which was warmly received by Carla Rees. Organ improvisation
is a form of musical creativity which is traceable to the famous
duels of the Baroque period and beyond. Organists are still
trained in the skills required to keep a church service going
while the queues form for blessings, but few players demonstrate
the creative powers demonstrated on this set of recordings.
Rolande Falcinelli was introduced to the organ by a conservatoire
classmate Gaston Litaize, and was soon rubbing shoulders with
Olivier Messiaen and Maurice Duruflé and receiving guidance
from Marcel Dupré, whom she succeeded as professor in organ
at the Paris Conservatoire. This powerful and noble tradition
can clearly be heard in the playing on this collection of improvisations.
The first of these, Improvisation sur les noms de Franz Liszt
et de Marcel Dupré has a palpable relationship with the
dramatic gestures of Messiaen. This is the most recent of the
recordings, and the later performances fare best in terms of
sound quality, though each has its own little noises from the
instrument and audience. There are a few moments of distortion
on some of the earlier tapes at the highest peaks, but in general
the recordings are very good, and certainly filled with vibrant
atmosphere. The tuning of the instruments is also a minor issue,
but none of this detracts from the flamboyant and daring inventiveness
of Falcinelli at work.
The improvisations often commence with a rendition of the theme
on which the playing is based, and it is fascinating to hear
how the material is moulded and transformed. Improvisation is
a ‘risky’ business, and there are one or two moments of unevenness:
the occasional lingering on a banal rhythm, one or two exploratory
slips of the fingers or a sense that the logic of a progression
or a texture is having to be retrieved from the brink, but the
overall impression is one of unique creations unfolding through
stunning technique and remarkable inventiveness and imagination.
If like mine your tastes embrace 20th century organ
music and the French school in particular, then this CD provides
a feast of refreshing new material.
Genuine organ improvisation of this kind hasn’t been covered
on very many recordings, and the only other one I know is that
of Jean Guillou playing at Saint-Eustache from 1969 on the Philips
label, 446 644-2. Guillou is more off-the-wall and even anti-tradition
in comparison to Falcinelli, freewheeling and exploring the
sonorities and tuning of the instrument in a line which might
arguably extend more towards the experimental composition of
György Ligeti and artists such as Keith Jarrett on his fascinating
Hymns/Spheres release on ECM. All three players are entirely
distinct in their approach, and in their ways equal in terms
of impact. Rolande Falcinelli might be more recognisably traditional
in terms of background and approach, but she is also something
a bit special. I can feel my spine tingling at the mixture of
colours and surreal atmosphere of the Improvisation sur deux
thèmes de Jean-Jacques Werner and am truly grateful that
these moments have been preserved on record.
Dominy Clements
Track listing:
Improvisation sur les noms de Franz Liszt et de Marcel Dupré
(pour le centenaire de la mort du premier et de la naissance
du second), Cathédrale de Belley, 25 July 1986 [13:40]
Improvisation sur un thème d'Eliane Lejeune-Bonnier,
Cathédrale de Belley, 21 July 1980 [10:19]
Improvisation sur un thème de Claude-R. Roland, et sur B-A-C-H
(pour le tricentenaire de la naissance de Bach), Cathédrale
de Belley, 17 July 1985 [14:42]
Improvisation sur un hymne à Saint-Anthelme, Cathédrale
de Belley, 17 November 1979 [13:16]
Improvisation sur deux thèmes de Jean-Jacques Werner,
Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Versailles, 17 October 1982 [10:25]
Improvisation sur un thème de Maurice Duruflé, Saint-Etienne-du-Mont,
8 June 1983 [10:38]
Rolande Falcinelli (organ) 
