Upcoming restauration of St-Ouen organ
Christian Ohn
organ of St-Ouen (Rouen, France), Cavaille-Coll's last great masterwork of
1890, is to undergo a restauration by the French organ builder Renaud (who
did the restauration of St-Sulpice in Paris in 1991). Work is scheduled to
start in summer 1999.
It is true that the organ starts to get tired and fragile: van Oosten told
me that when playing tutti, he had to remove virtually all 32' and 16'
foundation stops, to keep a stable wind supply! He also had to apply some
other tricks.
Let us all hope for a successful restauration, so that this magnificient
instrument will again produce its beautiful sound in its full glory!
--
Christian Ohn { c h o h n }
at { u l b }
dot { a c }
dot { b e }
jzydek
Did he stay within the original style? (or do as so many crazies in the US
do -- try to turn it into some sort of hybrid THING with loads of
German-style upperwork that have no business on one of those lovely old
French ladies?)
Have you heard the organ at St. Sulpice and can you report on it? Thanks.
June
Christian Ohn wrote in message
Christian Ohn
: How did the organ at St. Sulpice sound after Renaud rebuilt it?
: Did he stay within the original style? (or do as so many crazies in the US
: do -- try to turn it into some sort of hybrid THING with loads of
: German-style upperwork that have no business on one of those lovely old
: French ladies?)
: Have you heard the organ at St. Sulpice and can you report on it? Thanks.
The only (small) changes Renaud did was to revert on previous changes. He
certainly didn't change anything in the style.
Generally speaking, the was a dark age when people changed the style of
many organs while "restauring" them (witness the massacre of Notre-Dame
under Cochereau's influence during the 1960s). Fortunately, since the
advent of "historically informed <whatever>", this age is now over, and
the few remaining intact Cavaille-Coll organs can be expected to be
restaured faithfully. This has recently been done at St-Sernin in
Toulouse, and shall shortly be done at St-Ouen in Rouen. I guess
St-Francois de Sales in Lyon will be next on the list.
As for St-Sulpice, Daniel Roth has recorded a number of CDs there (for the
Motette label), some before the restauration, some after. The difference
is clear.
DGSyr
I'm curious about exactly when next summer the restoration will start. An
organ tour in which I'm participating is planning a side-trip to Rouen (early
July), and I would hate to miss the opportunity to hear and play this organ!
But it's wonderful that Renaud is doing the work- their St-Sulpice restoration
was beautifully done.
David Enos