Some say the Second World War came to
an end with the collapse of the Berlin
Wall, but this historic disc stands
testament to some of the rebuilding
which has gone on since those momentous
days. Many will remember the news broadcasts
which covered the consecration of the
rebuilt Frauenkirche on 30 October 2005.
This disc is the first recording to
come from the new organ, built by Daniel
Kern of Strasbourg, and as such should
make organ enthusiasts and those interested
in musical history in the making sit
up and take notice.
The new organ, despite
having its case restored exactly as
it was designed by the architect George
Bähr, is no slavish reproduction
of the original Gottfried Silbermann
organ. It has however been built with
that instrument’s sonorities in mind.
The idea has been to be concordant with
the Alsatian sound of Andreas Silbermann,
while providing romantic flexibility
to the instrument by adding a manual
in the Parisian style of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
It is known that on
1 December 1736 Johan Sebastian Bach
gave a recital on the Silbermann organ
in the Frauenkirche. Unfortunately it
is not known what he played, but it
is entirely appropriate to fill the
majority of this première recording
with his work. Samuel Kummer was appointed
organist at the Frauenkirche in December
2004, and he performs the works here
with elegant and authoritative style.
Straight from the start, the pulsing
ostinati of the Concerto BWV 596’s Allegro
fill you with a sense of promise
and excitement, almost immediately fulfilled
by the subsequent dramatic Grave
chords and the Fuga – it’s
the ideal showcase with which to open
such a recording. The organ sparkles:
the sound dances and moves sweetly within
the richly resonant acoustic, and the
sound engineers seem to have got it
right from the start. I suspect that,
had this merely been a stereo recording,
the microphones might have been placed
just a little closer to the instrument.
As it is, the listener is realistically
placed somewhere in the middle of the
Frauenkirche, something which is brought
startlingly to life when the multi-channel
effect kicks in.
All of Samuel Kumner’s
Bach is translucent, and seems to me
to be perfectly balanced in registration
and tempo for the new organ and its
magnificent setting. It is of course
no ‘organ fireworks’ recording, and
while the rich bass comes across clearly
it probably won’t have your trouser
bottoms flapping as a more closely mic’d
recording might have. The Gravement
section in BWV 572 opens out in
a way which brought tears to my eyes
however, and I gladly trade this wave
upon wave of superb, voluminous, ‘Plein
Jeu’ organ sound for unnaturally shuddering
woofers any day.
If you want to hear
the pedals misbehaving then we have
to turn to Duruflé’s Suite
Op.5. It is as if the Kern organ
has somehow completely transformed itself,
proving its sound spectrum to be easily
the equal of many a romantic French
instrument. This piece was dedicated
to Duruflé’s teacher, Paul Dukas.
Clearly intended for the Cavaillé-Coll
sound, it is a suitable showcase for
this aspect of the new organ’s potential.
Expressive cantelinas sing out over
the foundation stops in the second half
of the Prelude, which recall
most Duruflé’s justly famous
Requiem, and the second Sicilienne
movement shamelessly parades a rainbow
palette of lyrical Voix Humaine and
Voix Céleste moments, which charm
and melt the ear with flute and Hautbois
melodies over deceptively simple sounding
6/8 accompaniments. The final Toccata
is full of bravura and virtuoso
organ writing, with some strikingly
punchy cross-rhythmic effects – a joyful
end to a magnificent organ recital.
This is a rare and
special disc – an historic recording
for, in, and of our times. Superbly
recorded and performed, we can only
look forward to a feast of new discs
from the Frauenkirche. Even those with
a severe and incurable organ allergy
might find themselves miraculously cured
by such a production: the rest of us
can think ourselves indeed fortunate
to have been witness to the rebirth
of one of Europe’s significant cultural
landmarks.
Dominy Clements
Samuel Kunner (organ) 
