Missouri Classical Music News

The Philadelphia Orchestra has a new toy, and boy, is it a lot of fun.

Philly got a fancy new hall several years ago (a hall that’s still in the process of being acoustically tweaked), and a new pipe organ was part of the deal. The organ was dedicated this past weekend, with a regular series concert (all three performances were sold out), and a five-hour organ recital marathon with five different soloists.

I was there, as part of a posse from the Music Critics Association of North America. It was an exciting time on several levels. The first, of course, was to see a pipe organ in an orchestra hall; they’re too rare in this country, but there’s a significant amount of repertoire that calls for one. There was also the fun of speaking with its creators, and catching some of their enthusiasm over a long creative process that was finally coming to fruition.

There was the related enjoyment of hearing a solid evening of organ-and-orchestra rep done by a first-rate ensemble and soloist. And then there’s the saga of Cameron Carpenter and the broken swell box.