It is always curious
to hear organs which are so far away
from one's own country that one is never
likely to hear them in the flesh. That
was certainly the case when I received
this CD of 19th and 20th century French
music played on the organ of Wellington
Cathedral in New Zealand, by the Cathedral's
English-born and -educated organist,
Andrew Cantrill.
Unfortunately this
release is a disappointment on almost
all counts. For a start, the instrument
is not at all up to the task. Originally
built by T.C. Lewis in 1877, it has
been expanded, moved, neo-baroque-ified,
and not at all improved by a succession
of local builders who should have left
well alone. The result is an instrument
of around 60 stops, on 4 manuals, only
2 of which have any real foundations,
while the organ as a whole contains
two 1' stops and no fewer than three
1, 1/3 stops, not to mention various
other mutations and the Positive Cimbel.
Occasionally one gets a whiff of some
real quality, the Swell strings and
Hautboy, (probably original) are beautiful,
for the rest it is an un-lovely and
unremarkable sound, characterised by
lack of foundation, poor reeds and high
mixtures. In any case, it is certainly
not the organ for the majority of the
programme.
Unfortunately Cantrill's
playing, while quite virtuosic, is rather
superficial. Langlais' Fete,
and the little Offrande by Pierre
Cogen come off best despite use of the
hideous Cromorne in the latter. For
the rest, the playing lacks space, insight
and a feeling for harmonic tension.
Franck's Premier Choral is given a strangely
disjointed reading, the required Vox
Humana missing for the Choral theme,
and at 17 and a half minutes one of
the longest performances on record.
Elsewhere his use of the organ is unintelligent;
the grotesque horizontal trumpet is
coupled to the tutti no fewer than four
times, even the last line of the Franck
isn't spared. This is the playing of
someone who has spent much time learning
virtuosic show-pieces at electric-action
organs, and precious little time playing
the organs which gave birth to the music;
the masterpieces of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
Despite the substantial
programme-note, the booklet is mostly
concerned with some local art-work,
the relevance of which escapes me. There
is no photo of the instrument, but having
done a little research I can reveal
why. It looks as unappealing as it sounds
...
Chris Bragg
Andrew Cantrill, organ 
