Having a well-furnished collection of organ music and having reviewed several of them, I have come to realize how difficult it is for an organist to play in the vast environment of a cathedral. Johannes Krahl has recently taken up the challenge to do it in the Sankt Trinitatis Baroque Cathedral in Dresden, Germany. Blindfolded, so it seems, looking at the cover. An All-Bach programme, though transcribed by this great German Master from works of Johann Ernst (Prinz) von Sachsen-Weimar and Antonio Vivaldi and one further arrangement by the eminent German organist Martin Schmeding (BWV 1065). The recital furthermore has one of Bach’s works for the harpsichord (BWV 971, Italienisches Konzert) transcribed for organ by Schmeding on offer. A hefty list, a hefty Task.

In a previous release from the same ARS stable, ‘Elements of Bach’ Krahl convinced me with a spectacular transcribed Bach, Liszt, Reger solo recital in the Sank Petri Dom Kirche in Bautzen, playing a recent (1910) Eule organ. He is now back at the console of one of the famous Silbermann organs built in the first half of the 18th Century. To be rebuilt, after the destructive bombardment by the Allies at the end of WW II, by the Jehmlich Brothers and inaugurated in 1971. It took another 30 years for the organ to be fitted out with new elements to restore it to its original state. A mighty sounding powerhouse.

All those familiar with my previous review Elements of Bach - Krahl hardly need further comments about this young and coming talent, which is also richly on display in ‘Conversations’, where he has to overcome the strong echoes of the Dresden Cathedral. I’m sure that this must also have been the case for the recording crew. Nonetheless, it created a lifelike atmosphere as many visitors to such places know all too well. It reminded me of the tympanist of our local orchestra, L’Orchestre de Caen, giving a demonstration on baroque tympany during the interval, fighting the echoes of the large Abbey church where the concert took place, making it sound as if there were two or more tympanist at work. Still, he kept his nerve and rhythm.

Against this backdrop, we must conclude that Krahl, and the sound engineer, have done a remarkable job of highlighting Bach’s genius -and that of Krahl's elder colleague Martin Schmeding- in a compellingly attractive concert featuring Dresden’s monumental organ as a focal point of historical culture.

Organ and other eager music lovers will be pleased with the result, as well as with the instructive liner notes written by the soloist.

Blangy-le-Château, Normandy, France.

Copyright © 2024 Adrian Quanjer and HRAudio.net

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