Search - Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Rubsam :: Bach: Das Orgelbüchlein (The Little Organ Book), Vol. 1

Great CD - deceptive cover!

Nancy Wiley | 04/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although I have nothing but the highest praise for this superb recording, featuring the amazing musicianship of Mr. Rubsam, the CD cover is awfully deceptive. The beautiful full colour picture on the front - even taken from a great angle - is of the exquisite Silbermann organ in Rotha, Germany. I assumed (naively, I suppose) that the organ pictured was the organ recorded. Unfortunately, such was not the case. The recorded organ is certainly beautiful - the glorious Flentrop in the chapel of Duke University, designed, I believe by Professor Fenner Douglass - but for those people (including myself) who were hoping for the entirely different and utterly magical spell of Bach's music on a Silbermann organ, this is not the CD. As majestic as the Flentrop is, it could never be mistaken for a Silbermann. Howbeit, if you would like to hear these incomparable organ works (most of them lovely chorale preludes) on a grand organ rather in the great Dutch tradition, then this recording could not be better. The spacious acoustics of Duke's chapel are masterfully recorded here, and the landmark Flentrop has probably never sounded better. I scarcely need to say that Mr. Rubsam is an astonishingly talented organist, who interprets these pieces flawlessly.

In conclusion, if you were getting ready to buy this CD because you thought it featured a Silbermann, be forewarned - it is most certainly not a Silbermann. But if you would like to hear a great Flentrop superbly recorded and played, then I doubt you could find a better CD!"