Características
“Organ Treasures” contains a program designed to appeal to listeners who have previously shied away from purchasing organ recordings. The album is intended as an introduction to this magnificent instrument and, in addition to four well-known works by Johann Sebastian Bach, also includes music by lesser-known composers such as Pierné and Elert. One highlight is certainly the extremely entertaining and at the same time extremely virtuoso arrangement of Ives' “God Save The Queen” (Variations Of America). The recording is rounded off with Widor's famous “Toccata.” The recordings were made with Mattias Wager, a luminary who has made many other Opus 3 Records releases legendary.
“Organ Treasures” with Mattias Wager at the organ keys of Stockholm's Hedvig Eleonora Church creates an abysmal, moving sense of space. Thanks to the extra bass channel of the 4.1 recording, your trouser legs may start to flutter... (AUDIO 2/2004)
“Organ Treasures” is the Swedish label's first Multichannel Hybrid SACD on which Jan-Eric Persson uses the bass channel. There are good reasons for this: To do justice to an organ recording, Persson takes advantage of a true 4.1 configuration, i.e., a subwoofer channel that can reproduce the deep bass of the organ in Stockholm's Hedvig Eleonora Church, which extends below 30 Hz. To ensure perfect balance in bass reproduction between the front channels and the subwoofer, microphone specialist Jörgen Thuresson developed a special Linkwitz-Riley crossover network with a crossover frequency of 24 dB/60 Hz. This considerable technical effort is justified by the excellent sound quality. The Multichannel Hybrid SACD from Opus 3 Records includes a booklet with detailed information on the recording technology and microphones used.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
1. Toccata & Fugue In D Minor
2. Jesus bleibet meine Freunde (arr. by M. Duruflé)
3. Sinfonia, From Cantana 29 (arr. by A. Guilmant)
4. Air (arr. by S. Karg-Elert)
César Franck (1822-1890)
5. Pièce Héroïque
Charles Ives (1874-1954)
6. Variations On “America“
Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937): “Trois Pièces Op. 29“
7. Prélude
8. Cantilène
9. Scherzando De Concert
Sigfried Karg-Elert (1877-1937)
10. Valse Mignonne Op. 142
Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)
11. Toccata From Symphony No. 5