Wow, just an observation here, yesterday's New York Times story and review about the new Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ was one of the days' overall most popular stories, at #5 when I looked at it, and today it's still holding at #7:
Read the entire review here (free registration might be required)
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Yeah they are right. It is full of bells and whistles. You just can't hear them very well in Verizon Hall. All that money spent on a project like this should have had a better result.
My opinion:
Its a great organ in an OK hall.
Someone mentioned the Morton Meyerson Center in Dallas. The acoustics there are great.
Another thing:
Organists are all sitting back just to see what the Kimmel Center is going to do with this 6 million dollar organ.
PLEASE do not do what the other concert halls do.
Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Madison, and Jacksonville did with their concert hall organs.
They all raved about their organs for 3 or 4 seasons, programmed the same ole handfull of Organ Concerto's, and now they barely use the organs. Thats a slap in the face to the people that donated all of the money. It's like a child at Christmas...they begged for a gift, played with it Christmas Day, and tossed it aside. Many organists are thinking its just a matter of time
before you've turn Big Phil to to a paperweight.
Get out there, be go-getters and plan well for your organ. What can you do?
Have the organ played at every concert that goes on at the Kimmel Center. Do a prelude and postlude.
The Organists you are familiar with are not the only good organists. There are so many good organists that simply do not want to have high profile careers. Get out there and listen for yourselves and don't let your organ committee sway you to only having friends of theirs play.
Get nice people, that will talk to the audiences and have some personality. Organists are guilty of being mean, cold hearted, and very condescending. The American Guild Of Organists has even started a campaign where they are trying to address the fact that many organists have really nasty attitudes towards people and other areas of music, which is why so many people don't like the organ.
There is so much music out there for organ with other instruments. And a lot of it is new, fresh, and interesting to younger players. Hearing the Saint-Saens was nice, but it is not the only piece for Organ and a large ensemble. There are about 400 others, and you could have really gotten peoples attention with something unfamiliar but more snazzy. There's a piece called the Symphony Concertant by Joseph Jongen that is FAR BETTER than the Saint Saens. There's also some piece called The Vikings from the Finland Suite by Arthur Wills thats really nice.
I was not very happy with Latry's playing. He was too restrained and "academic" for a crowd of people that could have been wowed even more. You should have had Diane Bish, Hector Olivera, Richard Morris, or someone with more pazzazz and body language. Thats why you should find more players without all this elite training. Get someone down home and fun that plays the Pipe Organ and is more interractive with the audience.
Cameron Carpenter was amazing on saturday.
But, so many highly trained people in the field of Organ music harshly criticize hime because he takes musical freedom to make music his way, instead of the way they say in books. Thats the thing...sometimes, listening to highly trained organists is the way NOT to get crowds.