COMPOSERS: Mendelssohn
LABELS: Discover International
WORKS: Six Organ Sonatas, Op. 65
PERFORMER: Jozef Sluys (organ)
CATALOGUE NO: DICD 920207 DDD
Apart from a rather irksome penchant for over-indulgent rubato, Jozef Sluys gives good, reliable accounts of these sonatas on the restored four-manual Walcker organ of Riga Cathedral. If there is a solid weightiness to the sound, it comes through no fault of player nor instrument, but from a dull, lifeless acoustic. Tempi are by no means lethargic, and the expansive opening movements of Nos. 1 & 3 contain plenty of forward momentum. All too often, though, the pedal line is ponderous, especially in the lighter middle movements. Stephen Haylett
Mendelssohn: Six Organ Sonatas, Op. 65
Apart from a rather irksome penchant for over-indulgent rubato, Jozef Sluys gives good, reliable accounts of these sonatas on the restored four-manual Walcker organ of Riga Cathedral. If there is a solid weightiness to the sound, it comes through no fault of player nor instrument, but from a dull, lifeless acoustic. Tempi are by no means lethargic, and the expansive opening movements of Nos. 1 & 3 contain plenty of forward momentum. All too often, though, the pedal line is ponderous, especially in the lighter middle movements. Stephen Haylett
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:31 pm