Theater Organ with all the whistles and bells on DVD/CD
REVIEW…
Cameron Carpenter is surely the bad boy of American organists based on his dress, behavior,
Cameron Carpenter
and yes, even his artistry as observed and heard on a new combo DVD and CD Telarc is releasing next week.
For starters, the album, Cameron Live!, carries two front covers both designed by Carpenter—of himself, by himself and for himself. Inside the double-thick butterfly album design are two disks, one the DVD containing remarks about each number made by Carpenter speaking from his Manhattan apartment, and the music—plus special documentary-like features; the other is a CD, live, of his 2009 New York recital. Music on the DVD is a disparate group of 13 that includes music representing styles and eras beginning with Bach and ending with Sousa. The CD contains 14 tracks devoted essentially to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Preludes.
Carpenter is a controversial young (29 years-old) organist who creates flutter wherever he goes. But, for the moment let’s stick to the music. Carpenter has purposefully confronted the bombastic-style of famed theater organist Virgil Fox. Where Fox would come on strong and keep going, Carpenter takes a generally lighter touch and approach to each piece and builds to a dramatic conclusion. But in doing so, he casts himself as an exciting new interpreter of organ music and that is his downfall. His keyboard technique is, as almost all critics have noted, one of the most virtuosic possibly ever in our time. But the aura he creates is “circus-style” as one critic described it. Still, The New York Times said, “He has pushed the boundaries of organ technique to breathtaking heights, meshing virtuosity with musical intelligence”. For me, his attempt to be different makes all this magnificent technique he demonstrates nothing but plain quirky. He is a highly talented show-off.
From the beginning with Shostakovich’s Festive Overture Carpenter shows he can play fast and accurately but he misses depth. His own three-piece composition, “Three Intermezzi for Cinema Organ” is given its world premiere on the DVD. The work is in three movements each designed to show off the sounds that can be obtained from these mechanical (now digital) beasts. In “The younger boy and the older boy” Carpenter spreads his fingers to play on three ranks at a time; in “Clockwatcher” he uses various stops plus a ticking clock and chimes; in “Rumble” your subwoofer gets a good work-out. The sound is superb on the DVD, less so in the live CD recording.
Many will find the video portion of the DVD disconcerting. The flashy Carpenter dresses in tight white jeans, white t-shirt studded with Swarovski crystals, and special white shoes, all of which he designed. The camera lovingly sweeps over his hands, face, back, arms and thighs. His sexual orientation is not questioned: even he says his mother “sensed I was very sensitive and possibly queer,” according to an article written by Vivien Schweitzer for the New York Times and posted on Carpenter’s website. That’s telling it like it is.
The organ used in the DVD is Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra manufactured by Wurlitzer Co, now restored by two underwriters of the Telarc recording, Mildred and Jack Hardman. The CD is recorded live at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in New York City. The entire recording offers 3 1/2 hours of exciting, unusually interpreted, classical theater organ music. Release price is $15.95.
By Bill Peters
