Carlo Curley at Chester Cathedral, England, Part 1/5

[davlber221]

I just wish I had his technique!

[pmzephyr22]

Ladies and Gentlemen! THE GREAT CARLO!!! Need I say more?

[accousticdecay]

Bravissimo!

[stormkingfan]

Thanks, Carlo, for sharing this clip. Interesting to watch this piece being played.

You left out the Choir in the stoplist. :)

[Lopear27]

Don't listen to them Carlo (not that you would anyway!) A fine performance, full of fire and passion - what more could we ask for?! Encore Sir!

[MrBrysonD]

WTH????? The absolute worst performance of this work I've ever heard! Hideous registration not even close to what Dupre requests! What a disgust! But so is Carlo a flashy loser and murderer of organ literature! CARLO YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!

[organstudent]

@MrBrysonD i agree completely

[mcsw99]

@MrBrysonD Registration is indeed not what Dupre specified - but it may be worth noting that Dupre frequently ignored his own instructions, particularly when faced with instruments in the USA that could not reproduce the timbres he wanted. (There is even a recording of him playing this very piece using Oboe where he originally asks for Celestes...)

[MrBrysonD]

@mcsw99 Agreed but the instrument at Chester Cathedral is more than adequate to follow the composers actual interpretation. Yes, I should be more patient and less critical of CC's work however when you seek an authentic performance of a composers work and here a bad performance it sometimes is frustrating. I appologize to all of CC's fans. Of one I am NOT!

[Mackaronni]

"Foxy" or Not, this guy plays with an energy and vitality that we seldom see in organists today. Jolly good performance with very precise playing. Bravo.....

[socksumi]

Someone should have placed the microphones nearer to the pipes, not at the organ bench. The sound of clicking keys and staffs is seems to dominate over the organ pipes themselves.

[bobbell9]

joeyboi87 Chichester organ comment is rubbish. The current organist was at Newcastle cathedral and will be playing at least as loud, when neccesary. He wouldnt have gone there if the organ had been faulty as you suggest

[organstudent]

im sorry but i thought this performance was terrible............ very virgil fox if i may say ....

[12inchshell]

ummm...ok.

[joeyboi87]

I agree, too flashy and fast, I actually heard that Carlo Curley has been banned from playing the organ at Chichester because he was using registrations that were far too heavy and caused damage to the organ!..pretty awful for an organist who is considered to be of concert level

[keithcb2003]

@joeyboi87 what utter rubbish!! You can't damage an organ by using "wrong" registration

[wdunklin1]

When in college a friend joked that the words to the fugue subject were "Marcel Dupre Marcel Dupre, the thing is hard as hell to play." LOL. Never tackled this! And benz303b, you're right, no one ever accused C Curley of being the picture of quietude at the console.

[BeFrSc]

I had something similar to that, but it was "Marcel Dupré, Marcel Dupré, How do you play, how do you play" etc. lol

[bvsiness]

Shame upon me, i didnt knew this piece of my landfellow till today. Heard it for the 10th time in little more than 1h. Thanks to u Mr Curley!

[livandjazz]

im at chester as a chorister and apparently it is one of the best in the country and there is not another organ like it

[Kippsky45]

not to be a killjoy, but anyone who knows about Marcel Dupré knows that he was very still at the console & made ABSOLUTELY no unnecessary movements. Poor man prolly turned in his grave when this was recorded.

[benz303b]

Perhaps Dupre was such a still perfomer that he couldn't be bothered to turn in his grave. An interesting anecdote,but i hope you don't mean to infer that the perfomer must play as the composer !!

Hearing this clip made me want to track down the music by Dupre, it is fantastic peice and the perfomance was amazing to. Thank you for to whomever for posting.

[mjn122389]

Simply gorgeous music! You are an excellent performer, Mr. Curley. Thank you for this video.

[latribe]

Apart from all the other wel deserved praise here, it's so wonderful to see a performer undertake such repertoire entirely from memory. Really impressive! Thanks!

[MEPPO06]

If the contributer above thinks that Chester cathedral has a mediocre organ he has either not played it or has cloth ears. Despite some nasty neo-Baroque changes in the 60s, this is one of the most magnificent surviving instruments by the Hill form. I was expecting to grumble about CC's playing - but not a bit of it; it's very stylish and musical. Most enjoyable.

[ds1868]

I don't suppose you're from Chester, are you?

You need to place this organ in context. It may be a very good organ in Chester, it may be a good organ in North West England, but compared to the masterpieces in London it is very ordinary indeed. No cloth ears 'hear' (sic).

[MEPPO06]

No. I'm not from Chester. Yes, I have played it (music by Frank Bridge and parts of the Elgar Sonata), having directed the music at Chester for a week when I was the organ scholar of an Oxford college. I still maintain that the Chester organ is one of the finest surviving Hill organs, and if I'm allowed to add a bit more then that view is reinforced by the fact I spent my gap year playing another magnificent organ by Hill, in another cathedral very definitely in teh south of England.

[cestrian101]

I too was a chorister at Chester and I played the organ on many occasions - the organ is not standard there is no such thing as a standard organ- the context is that it is the best organ for Chester. Any organ built has to be build according to the space of the building the acoustics etc Chester has the longest running weekly recital series in the world: David Sanger, Dupre and Ian Tracey to name a few have played here - I dont think these people would come to play a crap organ!

[jmeister321684]

Mr Curley your organistic charism will always enchant me ! Thanks ! JW

[codeman2008]

I love the registration he uses throughout the prelude! Phenominal registration! And I love the sound of the keys clicking, sort of like at Saint Sulpice. For me, it makes the softer pieces more intimate, yet more lively. When I practice this prelude on my church's organ, I can hear the exact same clicking sound! And I LOVE it!

[MonsieurOrgue]

That was a fittng noise you made right at the end there, after a blistering performance. Fabulous, thanks for sharing. Did I notice just socks for the feet?

[BeFrSc]

Indeed, he has socks because from what I've been told, he either had or has gout which stops him from playing in shoes, i'm not sure weather this is true or not, but this is what i've been told, but he has GOLD LINED socks which he revealed during a rehearsal once, that was funny.

[tjugofyra]

I think it´s true! I have heard the same!

[Ericb61]

I asked CC once why he wore only. socks. His reply (per e-mail) was that while travelling to a concert once, he forgot to pack his organ shoes and did not have time to buy a new pair at the location of the concert. he plays equally well with or without shoes, according to him

[byrdntallis]

@Ericb61 I know many organists who play in just socks. And a couple who always where different colour socks so they can see which foot is which.

[2468HOTROD]

When I lived in Los Angeles I had to miss a concert you played on the organs of First Congregational Church. Sorry that happened. This was beautiful. Thank you for this music.

[marsvltor2]

Feel sorry for the pedals - probably the first time they've had to work for years!!!

[ds1868]

That really is very well played by Carlo Curley. This is a very difficult piece to play, but not only does he play it well, he also brings to life the spirit of this piece, and amazingly on a mediocre English organ.

[BeFrSc]

Carlo, just a thing I think I should point out, at the beginning of the video, it says Durpé, you may want to edit that, I don't know, thanks for a marvelous performence of the virutoistic and magnificent piece.