Charles-Marie Widor: The Organ Symphonies Vol 1 (Joseph Nolan)

ALTHOUGH recordings of Charles-Marie Widor's famous toccata abound, finding a good one is difficult.

The Organ Symphonies Vol 1: Charles-Marie Widor

ALTHOUGH recordings of Charles-Marie Widor's famous toccata abound, finding a good one is difficult.

Too often it is buried away in organ anthologies that treat it as a mere showpiece, which of course it's not -- the toccata forms the last movement of his Organ Symphony No 5 in F minor. When played out of context, it loses some of its impact. Mattias Wager's version in Organ Treasures (Opus 3 Records) is a corker of a performance if one just wants the toccata.

However, to hear the whole Symphony No 5 in F minor and its Op 42 pair, Symphony No 6 in G minor, a good choice is Joseph Nolan on Signum Classics. This renowned English organist, who was appointed to Her Majesty's Chapels Royal, St James Palace, in 2004 and made organist at Perth's St George's Cathedral in 2008, plays one of the great Parisian organs for this recording.

It is not Widor's instrument at Saint-Sulpice -- a monster boasting five manuals and 102 stops. Instead, it is the smaller but equally revered Cavaille-Coll organ of La Madeleine, where Gabriel Faure was organist. Nolan is authoritative in both symphonies.

He has a natural, fluent feel for Widor's highly melodic writing, which leans towards Felix Mendelssohn in spirit. His treatment of rhythm is agilely clean too, in line with the music's buoyant, whimsical personality. There is just one issue concerning the toccata itself. Instead of playing the notes all equal and staccato as marked, Nolan continually leans on rhythms.

The result sounds more pliant and less mechanical than usual, but the cost is speed: it feels a tad lethargic.

LABEL: Signum Classics
RATING: 4 stars