Reviews
GMCD 7309
Franz Hauk Plays Hakim, Helmschrott, Messiaen
American
Record Guide September/October
Franz Hauk plays Symphonic Organ
HAKIM: Ouverture Libanaise; Pange
Lingua; HELMSCHROTI: Furioso Infernal-Symphonische Fantasie; Dans la Luminere;
MESSIAEN: L'Ascen. sionit---Guild 7309-74 minutes
auk is organist and choirmaster at
Ingolstadt Minster, the site of this recording, which dates
from 1997 to 2001. The instrument is a
4-106 Klais (1977). This recording, superbly engineered by Guild, will
doubtless appeal mostly to organists. The sheer density of much of the music
heard will dismay most others. One can hardly perceive any consonance in the
compositions by Robert Helmschrott (b.1938). Both his pieces overwhelm the
listener with thick, heavy dissonance that goes on and on (about 15 minutes
each). There are brief moments when this ceases and quiet prevails-but too
brief. These works are clearly of unbelievable difficulty.
Hakim's opening overture uses Lebanese
folk tunes. Unfortunately, none are printed in the liner notes to help listeners
follow. There is a jaunty air about the opening pages, enhanced by the oriental
scales and theater-organ quality of the writing. This is a light-hearted
composition. His Pange Lingua settings take the form of six variations, brief
and easy to follow. Messiaen's familiar work is heard to good effect, enhanced
by the reverberation in this church. But that can also affect clarity. In the
brilliant 'Transports de Joie' Hauk handles the prickly technical challenges
easily, but the interpretation seems too measured or studied. METZ
Church Music Quarterly June 2007
GUILD
7309, FRANZ HAUK plays Symphonie Organ, CMQ June
2007
The Klais
organ of the Liebfrauenmünster, Ingolstadt
Once the package of CDs for review has dropped an the mat, it's tough deciding
which CD to listen to first, but this recording of Works by Naji Hakim,
Heimschrott and Messiaen caught my eye because of the picture of a bright mosaic
(by Julian Modica) on the front.
Ouverture Libanaise,
Hakim's musical description of his native country, provides a sprightly opening;
according to the programme notes the piece is based on Lebanese folk melodies.
If that's the case then either the plainsong `Ubi Caritas' is one of them, or
Hakim and Pope Gregory are compatriots. By contrast, Helmschrott's Furioso
infernal-
a
symphonic fantasy- is hellish and tough going! Messiaen's L'Ascension is
quite tame by comparison. The instrument is a four manual Klais instrument but
very different from the instrument built by the same firm in Bath Abbey; there
is a splendid continental tone, and the recording gives that vital sense of
space.
International Record Review, March 2007
Franz Hauk
Hakim
Ouverture Libanaise.
Pange lingua.
Heimschrott Furioso Infernal.
Dans la lumiere.
Messiaen L'Ascension.
Franz Hauk (organ).
Guild GMCD7309
(full price,
1 hour 14 minutes). Played an the Klais organ of Liebfrauenmünster,
Ingolstadt.
Producer
Michael Ponder. Engineer Jonathan Wearn. Dates'November 1997,
September and October 2001. Messiaen: Comparisons:
Latry (DG) 471 480-2 (2000, six discs)
Weir (Priory) PRCD924
This is a disc of
uncompromising organ sound, overwhelming virtuosity and music which, with the
exception of the great Messiaen cycle, seems hell-bent an creating an
impression. Certainly in the case of the two Hakim works, both written for the
Ingolstadt organ, there's very little to get one's teeth into beyond the sheer
spectacle of the organ sound. Ouverture Libanaise seems a mite too
exuberant and showy for its own good, with great outbursts of flamboyance like
lashings of artificial cream on a stale cake. Franz Hauk's own booklet note
insists that the work is based an Lebanese folk melodies, but if somebody had
devised a fun-fair attraction, complete with steam organ, called 'The Ride of
the Valkyries', I suspect it would come out very much like this (even down to
that sense of nausea engendered by so many violent changes of speed and
direction). Pange lingua, a series of six short preludes based an
Gregorian chants, also seems to strive after effect at the expense of anything
musically worthwhile.
Much the same could be
said of Helmschrott's
Furioso Infernal,
which over an
interminable quarter-of-an-hour punches out great fistfuls of organ sound,
rescued from arterial-blocking stodginess only by the presence of some
glittering high mixtures. However, it is Ingolstadt's glorious Klais which saves
the day in Helmschrott's distinctly Messiaenic
Dans la lumiere.
This, also, was
written for the Ingolstadt organ and it's difficult to imagine it sounding so
effective in any other setting. From the little pin-pricks of light which the
organ so magically evokes at the start, to the final dazzling toccata, we have a
simply aweinspiring exhibition of the range and power of the instrument. The
recording (made by Jonathan Wearn some ten years ago) captures it all with a
wonderful spaciousness.
Unquestionably, this is
an exceptional instrument. If it sounded awesome in Dans la
lumiere
it is simply stupendous
in Messiaen's
L'Ascension.
Never have I heard the closing bars of `Alleluias sereins' so truly celestial;
never have the `Transports de joie' thundered out so ecstatically. In terms of
sheer organ sound alone, Michael Ponder has produced
an
exceptional recording. There's no question, too, but that Hauk is a truly
brilliant player, and his Messiaen is probably more precise and faithful to the
letter and detail of the score than any. Perhaps, though, it's a little too neat
and precise. There's a sense that every rhythmic nuance has been measured with
mathematical precision and that every tiny detail of phrasing and articulation
has been painstakingly thought through to give us a performance which is totally
flawless but lacking in spontaneity. There's certainly room for such a
technically immaculate performance in the catalogue, but set against the
profoundly spiritual approach of Olivier Latry, the incense-laden atmosphere of
Notre Dame only adding to the impression of deep mysticism, or the extraordinary
intellectual strength and real sense of inner conviction of Gillian Weir's (to
my mind) matchless recording, it lacks that inspirational element which no
amount of brilliant organ Sound or dazzling virtuosity can fully convey. Marc
Rochester
Page revised Thursday November 29 2007
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