First a note about
the organ, because, apart from the specification,
almost nothing is told about it in the
booklet; why not? It was originally
built in the 18th century by Riepp,
(he of Ottobeuren fame...), and the
other significant contributions in its
history came from Ducroquet and Merklin,
during the 19th century, and most recently,
from Gerhard Schmid in 1996. The result
is an organ of five manuals: Positif,
Grand Orgue and Pedale with Grand Ravalement,
the enclosed Recit, where most of the
19th century pipework is housed, behind
the main case, and the short compass
Recit and Echo. Of its 73 stops, no
fewer than 33 still contain 18th century
pipework. The tonal result is rather
neutral, a little like those Kern reconstructions
of the 1970s; Toulouse Cathedral springs
to mind. Unfortunately, here it is captured
with the microphone so close to the
Positif de Dos that the balance between
the divisions becomes quite distorted.
This is especially true when stops of
the enclosed Recit, behind the main
case, are used to accompany Positif
solo stops and vice versa. On several
occasions the atmosphere is rudely interrupted,
simply by the use of the Positif (for
example the appearance of the Cromorne
during Petit Poucet at 1'33).
Additionally the slightly unstable tuning
of the instrument begins to grate after
a while.
The most successful
pieces here are the more intimate tracks.
Massenet comes off well, as does Ma
Mère l'Oye for the most part.
It is a pity that the playing of Maurice
Clerc, titular organist in Dijon, and
a former student of Rolande Falcinelli,
Suzanne Chaisemartin and Gaston Litaize,
suffers from sloppy rhythm, a general
lack of poise and the lack of a really
singing melodic line, essential in so
much of this music. The lack of poise
is immediately obvious in the opening
Berlioz Marche, compare this
with Olivier Latry's performance of
the same transcription on his new CD
for DG, "Midnight at Notre-Dame" (00289
474 8162) and the difference is obvious.
Elsewhere the Pelléas and
Mélisande transcriptions
lack so much of the composure and subtle
organ management of Louis Robilliard's
stunningly insightful recording of the
same pieces for Festivo (6961.942).
I like very much the idea of playing
Fauré's Dolly, and Debussy's
Petite Suite on the organ, but
here the quicker movements, (especially
the Ballet of the Petite Suite)
rather fall flat, and the simple charm
of Mi-a-ou seems forced and heavy.
This was a good idea,
a CD of transcriptions of French music
by composers who themselves wrote no
organ music. Unfortunately it is let
down, by the poorly captured, and rather
out of tune organ, and by the unsubtle
playing of Clerc. Readers looking for
a better CD of transcriptions should
enjoy the Latry CD mentioned before,
admittedly curiously programmed, or
more especially David Briggs' "The World
of Organ Transcription" recorded at
Gloucester Cathedral for Priory (PRCD
794) and including his own breathtaking
transcription of the 2nd orchestral
suite from Daphnis et Chloe of
Ravel.
Chris Bragg
Maurice Clerc, organ 
