Search - Charles-Marie Widor, Ben van Oosten :: Widor: Complete Organ Works, Vol. 3

A solid, if somewhat dry, performance

Josiah Armes | 03/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ben van Oosten has an extensive discography to his credit and has doubtless done a great service by recording so much of the French repertoire. He possesses flawless technique and has a solid grasp of the pieces; but, his playing strikes me as uninspiring and somewhat dry. There is nothing to reproach in his playing and use of the instrument; but there is also nothing that strikes the listener as brilliant or exceptional. One almost feels that Mr. van Oosten, with his gifted technique, is mechanically rolling out one recording after another just for the heck of it without really being inspired by the works that he is recording. Nonetheless, this is a solid and good recording, and, if some of the tempi are on the slow side, it is a useful recording to have as a reference.



For those looking to compare this with another recording, check out the Widor set played by Herman van Vliet. It is not, I believe, sold on this website, but can be found at the Organ Historical Society's website: www.ohscatalog.org. It is clear that van Vliet does not have van Oosten's impressively formidable technique, but the playing strikes me as much more musical and, dare I say, inspiring."