Organist Gregory De Santis

INSPIRING INTERPRETATIONS IN DE SANTIS ORGAN RECITAL

Organist Greg de Santis played a delightful and expertly shaped recital of mostly familiar selections August 14 from the classical organ repertory at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Rosa.

The program opened with Mendelssohn’s C Minor Prelude and Fugue, Opus 37, No 1. The three preludes and fugues of Op. 37, together with Mendelssohn’s Six Sonatas (Op. 65), are foundational in the repertory of all organists. Mr. de Santis performed this work with outstanding pedaling, the right registration, and artistic Mendelssohn phrasing.

Second on the program was Poem, a composition unknown to most listeners, by American composer Charles Shatto (1908 - 1983). The composer was an organist at the Pavilion Organ in Balboa Park, San Diego, and a friend of today’s recitalist. The composition is written in a gentle, contemporary idiom and lovingly played by Mr. De Santis.

Back to the classics, Mr. De Santis played Bach’s great Prelude and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 541, and he did so with confidence and finesse and with perfect Baroque manual touch and pedaling. This is one composition of Bach which makes everyone a “wannabe” organist. It was deftly played and was surely the envy of all organists present in the church!

Next on the program, with no loss of enthusiasm, was a perennial hit: the Minuet Gothique by French Romantic composer Léon Böllmann (1862 - 1897). Last was the Symphony No. 1, Opus 14 (Allegro vivace, Andante, and Finale) by the great French composer Louis Vierne. It was an interpretation that was firstly whimsical, then lushly comforting, and lastly energy infused. The work was played flawlessly and authentically with fiery energy.

Mr. De Santis’ recital was professional to the core in every way.

These August 2016 Summer Organ Recitals are underwritten by the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Rosa and feature local artists of the American Guild of Organists (AGO).