CD REVIEWS

SPECTACULAR (THE ORGAN OF THE BRIDGEWATER HALL) - JONATHAN SCOTT - SBDRCD004



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Publication: Choir & Organ
Date: July/August 2010
Reviewer: Ian Coleman

SPECTACULAR ****
Jonathan Scott, Marcussen organ, Bridgewater Hall

The sort of programme presented here may not be for die-hard purists, but it unquestionably lives up to its title. Widor, Yon and Lanquetuit (yes, those pieces!) rub shoulders with Nimrod and Crown Imperial. As well as demonstrating the varied highs (and perhaps a couple of reedy lows… ) of the Marcussen instrument. Jonathan Scott proves himself an urbane and virtuosic performer and arranger, and its hard not to enjoy the sheer exuberance of Lemare’s Carmen Fantasia.

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Publication: Organists’ Review
Date: May 2010
Reviewer: Andrew Fletcher

It could be dangerous to name a CD 'Spectacular'. Does the title refer to the organ? Or the organist? Well, in this instance both, for here we have consummate artistry, flawless technique and superlative musicianship creating quite possibly the most beautiful organ sounds I have ever heard. Everything Jonathan does is in honour of the music. There is no performer ego here; merely a master musician communicating the composer's and arranger's intentions. Speeds are dictated by the music, not technique (which we already know is prodigious) and everything Jonathan does is disciplined and aptly judged.

Choice of colours cannot be faulted, nor can the seamless crecendi and diminuendi that he so deftly executes. He actually makes the instrument sound like an orchestra, even down to the 'castanet' he elicits from some chiffy flutes in the Carmen Fantasia, and it is clear he knows the instrument like the back of his hand.The CD case isn't shabby, either. Beautifully presented in what has become the Scott Brothers Duo house style, it contains an informative booklet about performer, programme, and instrument.I could rave on and on about individual items in the programme, but it is enough to say that this is arguably the finest ' Town Hall' CD I have ever experienced. You have to buy it!

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He’s in recital at the Bridgewater Hall on March 17, in an eclectic programme that will include some of the highly entertaining music included on this CD - itself a demonstration of the versatility of the Bridgewater Hall’s remarkable pipe organ. Jonathan Scott is rapidly making himself the Mr Organ Music of the Manchester scene. On this disc you get old-fashioned transcriptions such as Suppé ’s Poet And Peasant overture, Walton’s Crown Imperial march, Massenet’s Méditation from Thaïs, and the Hornpipe from Handel’s Water Music. But there’s original organ music, too, including Lemare’s Fantasia on Themes from Bizet’s Carmen (itself tremendous fun in the style of the great transcribers), Widor’s famous Toccata, and another equally brilliant example of the species, the Toccata in D by Marcel Lanquetuit. It’s all played with panache and uses the organ’s sound resources skilfully, and there are touches of grand style which put Scott among the masters of the ‘king of instruments’.

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