Charles-Marie Widor - Symphony Op. 42bis; Sinfonia Sacra (Christian Schmitt; Stefan Solyom)

Information

Composer: Charles-Marie Widor

• Symphony for organ & orchestra, Op. 42bis
• Sinfonia Sacra, for organ & orchestra, Op. 81

Christian Schmitt, organ

Bamberg Symphony Orchestra

Stefan Solyom, conductor

Date: 2009

Label: CPO
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Charles-Marie-Widor-1844-1937-Symphonie-op-42-f%C3%BCr-Orgel-Orchester/hnum/6325510

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

It’s great to have this music available in spectacular SACD surround-sound. Though these two symphonies have been recorded previously (notably on Motette), this release roundly eclipses previous issues both sonically and interpretively. The organ in the Bamberg Symphony’s concert hall is a magnificent instrument, and very well suited to both the grand and intimate aspects of Widor’s writing. The Op. 42 symphony was arranged from one of the composer’s earlier symphonies for organ solo, and the orchestra here is basically just along for the ride. Still, Widor’s use of the contrast between massive, fortissimo chords for organ as opposed to the orchestra is very effective, and it’s spectacularly captured by the Bavarian Radio engineers. Organist Christian Schmitt exploits the varied tone colors of his instrument extremely effectively at lower dynamic levels in the central slow movement–the whole piece is just great fun.

The Sinfonia Sacra is another matter: it’s one of the great masterpieces in the literature for organ and orchestra. Cast as a single continuous movement some 30 minutes long, it’s a probing, mostly meditative, harmonically interesting piece that brilliantly exploits the organ both alone and in every conceivable combination with the orchestra before rising to a grandly solemn final climax. It deserves to be as popular as, say, Poulenc’s Organ Concerto, and it certainly should be heard more often in concert halls that have decent instruments. Its comparative neglect is astonishing. Conductor Stefan Solyom accompanies alertly here, keeping the music flowing and creating some lovely interplay between the orchestra and the soloist, and the orchestra follows him with total conviction. If you love good Romantic orchestral music, don’t let this release pass you by. [11/30/2009]

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

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Charles-Marie Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the late Romantic era. Widor was a prolific composer, writing music for organ, piano, voice and ensembles. Apart from his ten organ symphonies, he also wrote three symphonies for orchestra and organ, several songs for piano and voice, four operas and a ballet. As of 2022, he is the longest-serving organist of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, a role he held for 63 years. He also was organ professor at the Paris Conservatory from 1890 to 1896, and then he became professor of composition at the same institution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Marie_Widor

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Christian Schmitt (born 1976 in Erbringen, Saarland) is a German organist. He studied organ with Daniel Roth, Leo Krämer and James David Christie. Since 2014 he has been Principal Organist of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, for which he curates the organ series for the Bamberg Concert Hall. Schmitt has played the organs of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Musikverein, the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Maison Symphonique Montréal. His discography currently includes around 40 recordings. He is also an expert consultant for organ renovations and construction.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Schmitt_(Organist)

https://www.christianschmitt.info/

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Stefan Solyom (born 26 April 1979, in Stockholm) is a Swedish conductor and composer. He studied horn and conducting at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm and the Sibelius Academy. His conducting teachers included Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam. He was a prizewinner in the 2000 International Sibelius Conducting Competition. Solyom was Generalmusikdirektor of the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar from 2009 to 2016. In March 2013, Solyom was named the next chief conductor of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, as of the 2014-2015 season. He held the post until 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Solyom

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