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MUSIC
I love classical music, and baroque music in particular, especially works
by J. S. Bach and G.
F. Handel. I'm a huge fan
of classical organ
music, and regularly attempt to play
it (in the privacy of my own home, of course). I also love great jazz,
especially Shirley Horn, Marian
McPartland, and jazz piano in general.
Someday I would like to own a
Steinway
model D, or a Mason & Hamlin
Grand.
The Virgil
Fox Legacy is one of my favorite sites on the web.
The brain child of Richard
Torrence, Virgil Fox's personal representative
and concert
manager, it is a worthy tribute to Virgil Fox, perhaps the greatest organist
of all time. My first exposure to Fox came when I was about
16 years old, a year or so after beginning my study of the organ. I purchased
Fox's LP "Bach Live At Fillmore East Virgil Fox Heavy Organ".
This was when I became excited about the possibilities of Bach's music
being played on electronic organs. Fox managed to get me excited
about Bach, classical music, and classical music played on electronic
organs with that recording.
One could not listen to the excitement in Virgil's voice, as he extolled
the greatness of Bach before an audience of thousands,
without becoming excited as well. This, I think, was one of Foxs' greatest
talents . . . the ability to successfully introduce the classical organ
and Bach to the general public.
The Virgil
Fox Legacy contains a great wealth of information
related to the life and art of Virgil Fox.
I was amazed to find digitized audio and video files that I had no idea
existed. The Virgil Fox
Legacy is a genuine informational site.
There is REAL content there. If you're a student of music (read classical),
a Bach aficionado, a fan of the organ, or just want to know
how to design an elegant, yet informative web site, by all means check
out The Virgil Fox Legacy.
Dave's
J.S. Bach page is another one of my favorite sites, lots of great
Bach and Baroque information, as well as links
to many other wonderful Bach - Baroque related sites.
About a year or so ago , Sony Classical released
two compact disk by Murray Perahia performing Bachs' keyboard concerti.
These are both outstanding recordings of superb performances. Perahia
brings a new perspective to J.S. Bach's keyboard concerti. In
my opinion, these two recordings are the finest performances of Bachs' keyboard concerti to date.
Not like Gould, Perahias
performances are wonderfully nuanced and full of warmth.
I loved Perahias' performances of the Goldberg Variations
released by Sony Classical as well, but Rosalyn Turecks' performances of BWV 988, (Duetsche Grammophon,
2 CDs 459 599-2)
are simply spectacular. Listening to these recordings is about as close to transcendental as one can get.
Jim Stemke, AES, President of DSP Recordings
Speaking of recordings, Jim Stemke, my dear friend and recording engineer extraordinaire, has recorded a number of
wonderful CDs currently published by Gothic Records. Jim utilizes the latest in 24 bit recording technology to produce
some of the very finest organ recordings in existance. His recordings of Grand Court Organist Peter Richard Conte
playing the Wanamaker Grand Court pipe organ are sonically spectacular records of Contes' superb performances. If
you're an organ enthusiast or audiophile, you need to have these recordings in your collection:
Magic! Peter Richard Conte at the Wanamaker Grand Cour Organ
and
Midnight in the Grand Court
Erik Sikkema , another good friend of mine, resides in Sweden and is a noted recording engineer as well. You
can read my review of his recording of Hans Davidsson performing the Complete Works of
Matthias Weckman here.
The Complete Organ Works of Matthias Weckman
The benefits of Sikkemas' recording technique, which he calls "ULSI"
are stunningly obvious in
this recording. His technique allows one to enjoy the sonic attributes of the fine North
German Baroque organ within the acoustic environment. Upon listening to this recording, one is
certain that the physical placement of individual organ pipes can be determined. Also
available from Gothic Records, I highly recommend this recording.
Copyright © 2006 - 2009 Brad Starcevich