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Symphony
TWO OLD, TWO NEW AT THE SR SYMPHONY'S MARCH CONCERT IN WEILL
by Peter Lert
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Chamber
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by Terry McNeill
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THIRTY-THREE PLUS VARIATIONS AND AN OCEAN VIEW
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Saturday, March 16, 2024
Choral and Vocal
A ST. JOHN PASSION FOR THE AGES
by Abby Wasserman
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Choral and Vocal
SPLENDID SCHUBERT SONGS IN SANET ALLEN RECITAL
by Terry McNeill
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Chamber
SHAW'S MICROFICTIONS HIGHLIGHTS MIRO QUARTET'S SEBASTOPOL CONCERT
by Peter Lert
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Chamber
FRY ST. SQ PLAYS A DEMANDING 222 GALLERY CONCERT
by Terry McNeill
Friday, March 1, 2024
Symphony
YOUTH ORCHESTRA CHARMS BIG SPRING LAKE AUDIENCE
by Terry McNeill
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Chamber
SPIRITUAL CHAMBER MUSIC MARIN TRIO CONCERT
by Abby Wasserman
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Recital
ELEGANT VOCAL MASTERY AT ROSES SIGNATURE RECITAL
by Pamela Hicks Gailey
Sunday, February 25, 2024
RECITAL REVIEW
Mastercard Performance Series / Friday, February 12, 2016
Cameron Carpenter, organ

Organist Cameron Carpenter

TRAVELING VIRTUOSO AND HIS ORGAN IN SPLASHY WEILL CONCERT

by James Harrod
Friday, February 12, 2016

Few concerts in Weill Hall are really “over the top.” Inspiring, dramatic and even deliciously splashy won’t really qualify for that sobriquet. But Cameron Carpenter’s Feb. 12 organ recital was sensational in every way.

Traveling with his four-manual electronic organ and a special setup crew, Mr. Carpenter played everything from Bach to theater music to a house of 500 that grew increasingly vocal as the concert progressed. About 30 speakers behind the minimalist console delivered the sound.

High points for most of the organists in the audience were Bach’s Chaconne and a Prelude and Fugue, and Vierne’s Naïdes, Op. 55. Registrations for the Bach were innovative and not exactly classical, but for Vierne they were classical. All were played brilliantly, and two encores were offered.

An example of the artist’s virtuosity was his pedal technique, with both feet-kicking non-stop like a soccer player. Mr. Carpenter likes to play accompaniment with fingers of his right hand, and melody with his thumb on a lower manual. The registrations constantly change.

Mr. Carpenter spoke at length to the audience, praising Bach’s genius and that of George Gershwin, and about the need to bring the organ out of fixed architecture in large buildings. He has played in exotic settings, including on a seashore.

Even with some fancy colored stage lights and a rising mist, there was no lack of art in the entire concert of athletic and inspiring music making.