Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3; Poulenc: Organ Concerto; Barber: Toccata Festiva

This SACD from a series of concerts in Phillidelphia, show what a modern organ can do in the right hands and feet. Olivier Latry and Christoph Eschenbach with the famous Philidelphia Orchestra bring us three of the great works for organ and orchestra. Both the Barber and the Poulenc works recieve stunning performances. The problem I have with this disc is the Saint-Saens. Eschenbach micromanages the various movements of the symphony to a "fair thee well" where the finale should flow it stops and starts, he almost turns the finale into a roller coaster ride, he goes too
fast in some spots. Its almost like he is in a hurry to get to the end of the concert so he can go home. I think the Munch< BSO and the Levine, BPO recordings and especially the Plasson recording all do much better justice to the work.

Very interesting music. Good performance. Exceptional surround sound.
This disk is real godsend for melomaniacs & audiophiles!

This is a very impressive recording, particularly the Saint-Saens. It has a huge dynamic range which is best appreciated in the SACD format. I have many recordings of this work, including two versions on 78rpm albums, but this is the first in my experience where you can sense the full power of the 32 foot stop on the first note of the return of the main theme near the end of the poco adagio movement, (the first time this stop is used in the symphony).

This is the best one-disc survey of music for organ and large orchestra I've found. Barber's Toccata uses the full resources of the modern orchestra in a one-movement concerto (in all but name). It's nice to have a new recording of this, a performance in the composer's home-town, no less. Poulenc's orchestra is limited to strings and timpani, and here it's a revelation to discover details in the accompaniment that I've missed in other recordings. By contrast, the Saint-Saens Third Symphony uses the organ in a limited role, but its relatively brief contributions are ingeniously effective. Olivier Latry needs no praise from me for his first-rate organ playing, and conductor Christoph Eschenbach draws beautifully controlled sounds from the Philadelphia Orchestra. He successfully brings out various instrumental colors in the Barber, and, refreshingly, he makes the "Poco adagio" segment of the Saint-Saens the emotional core of the piece without letting it get sappy. The disc's sound engineers have made it possible for the musicians to achieve full range of dynamics; for some people, the near-inaudibility of certain moments is a flaw but, again, I welcome the variety (not every CD is intended to be heard in a moving automobile). What an embarrassment of riches for Philly -- first the Wanamaker Organ, now this classy Dobson at the striking Kimmel Center!

For years I have admired Christoff Eschenbach as a pianist and an unusually sensitive accompanist. This is my first exposure to him as a conductor - sadly, I am disappointed.

The Barber I quite liked; the Poulenc I thought wooden. However, to me they were of secondary importance as I bought the CD for the Saint-Saëns/Dobson/Latry/Philadelphia partnership; one that works very well on this disc - a superior recording responsible for most of the four stars awarded. The factor out of balance in this equation is, perhaps surprisingly, Eschenbach.

Solti could be irritatingly slow but he was, by comparison with Eschenbach in this performance, positively Toscanini-esque. All four sections of the Organ Symphony were taken at much too slow a pace but the "poco adagio" was thoroughly somnambulant and the "maestoso" section anything but. That the Philadelphia Orchestra was able to maintain the excellent cohesion displayed at this less-than-pedestrian pace is a measure of their quality.

If it is the Saint-Saëns that you want, you could do much better elsewhere. This work requires a powerful organ with convincing plein jeu in order to effectively balance the orchestra but so many recordings have either employed an asthmatic instrument or, as to a degree obtains in this case, effected a solo/orchestra imbalance. This balance is difficult to achieve but, in my view, was nicely accomplished by Jane Parker-Smith and the London Philharmonic in 1982/83. The two dates arise from the orchestral and solo parts being separately recorded at different times and at different venues. Perhaps this is a "cheat" but it resulted in what I consider the best recording of this work and the one I would recommend.