Musique De Foule. Christopher Hainsworth at the Puget Organ in the Chapel of the Kincoppal-Rose

Concerts

Musique de Foule. Christopher Hainsworth at the Puget Organ in the chapel of the Kincoppal-Rose bay School of the Sacred Heart, 1 April 2013

After its lengthy and at times challenging restoration process it is good to be able to hear the Rose Bay Puget organ in concert. On 1st April a substantial audience was treated to a recital with a difference. The performer, New Zealander Chris Hainsworth, now based in France, presented a varied, colourful and entertaining program. His mastery of the Puget, extracting an extraordinary range of colours, contrasts and dynamic levels, the approachability of works played, and the refinement and subtlety of musicianship and control overall, lifted this concert experience to a high level.

In the program notes Chris Hainsworth is described as “New Zealand’s most entertaining classical organist”, and on the strength of this performance I agree wholeheartedly. The bright opening item (Invercargill March by Alex Lithgow) set the mood with its rhythmic drive. This was one of several items in the program which I believe would have been equally at home at a Wurlitzer, but the Puget acquitted itself well with its wealth of reed colours plus the impact of its unique (noisy and fast) tremulant.

Chris Hainsworth’s approach to programming is intriguing and refreshing. His enjoyment of transcriptions is evident, as is his ability to match items to the resources of the instrument while extracting the maximum from limited resources. With the latter in mind, we heard most if not all ranks shown off in various guises. The GO Prestant alone became a clear solo voice. The Récit strings were frequently employed, especially effective in “Spring” by Grieg. The striking contrast between the louder unison flues of each manual, the warmth and potency of the Récit flute chorus of 8 & 4, and the bright assertive sound of the GO principal chorus of just two stops (8 & 4) were thoroughly explored and expounded. These two choruses, almost identical in power while vastly different in tone, complemented each other in a Handel concerto.

Back to the cinema organ notion and the Récit Vox Humana, at times boosted by the strings and flutes and frequently enhanced by the tremulant, was convincingly and frequently employed. A captivating, mysterious feel in the Kokako Fanfare and March by John Wells brought the Récit Hautbois into dialogue with the GO flues. The absence on paper of upper work is not an issue in real life, especially in louder works involving coupling the Récit reeds to the full flue work on the GO, and the dual swell boxes offer wide smooth crescendos and diminuendos.

I was surprised to see the inclusion of “Ride of the Valkyries” as this demanding transcription anticipates the resources of a large concert hall instrument. While not the familiar Lemare version but a convincing alternative, both player and instrument rose to the occasion. Coupling of the GO reeds to pedal while playing on the Récit allowed the pedal theme to overcome the absence of independent pedal stops.

The highlight for me was the narrated, theatrical bracket entitled “Topless Royals”, beginning with Dussek’s “Death of Marie-Antoinette”. This lived up well to statement in the program notes describing Chris Hainsworth’s established prowess in devising and presenting programs which are simultaneously informative yet entertaining. A short but powerful Postlude by Edouard Batiste regaled us with full organ to wrap up the main part of the program, then we were treated to an improvisation on a submitted theme. In my view Chris Hainsworth did well to employ the theme he was given. We were advised of a strong symbolic content to the theme, but following it was a challenge to the audience. I was left wondering how the audience in particular might have fared had he been given thematic material which was more familiar to the listeners as was the case at the Olivier Latry recital just a few days later at Sydney University.

After the concert several players including myself enjoyed a brief, rare opportunity to play the organ. It is unfortunate that this instrument is not more readily accessible, especially considering the duration and extent of public support through fundraising which allowed for the restoration of the instrument in the first place. The few minutes I spent at the console reinforced my admiration for Chris Hainsworth’s ability to manage the instrument. Despite sitting close to the pipes and playing upon mechanical action, the player must contend with an organ sounding distant and muffled due to the console’s position directly underneath the instrument. Balance is extremely hard to judge from the console, yet one would not have realised this on hearing how skilfully the instrument was handled throughout the recital.

Organ recitals generally these days usually see an overt effort by players to keep the audience on side while at the same time doing justice to the instrument’s history and repertoire. This one was a model of its kind on both fronts, and a thoroughly enjoyable experience.