“Sacred Concert in Lent”

Giorgio Parolini convinces in St. Gallus with a sense of colour

Tuttlingen. (stm) – The pleasure that Bernard Sanders had in introducing the organist Giorgio Parolini from Milan for the second Sacred Concert in Lent, this time in St. Gallus, was very apparent. And the international concert organist Parolini lived up to the expectations. Parolini began with North German Baroque, with Buxtehude´s Passacaglia in d-minor whose texture was served as a powerful appetizer but always clear. In the following Chorale Preludes of Buxtehude and Bach Parolini demonstrated his sense of colour, which one could almost continually enjoy. Consistently delineating the Chorales, he enticed ever new, interesting colours and combinations out of the Rieger organ in St. Gallus. The disposition of the organ is relentless but Parolini showed also her softer, darker aspects. The first climax: Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in b-minor. The Prelude with its dramatic syncopations was presented powerfully and appropriately compact, without excursions and ritardandi – Parolini hardly used these means and apparently favours obvious brusque endings. The opening and middle section of the Fugue gained in transparency through less volume and closed convincingly.  

Unusual colour combinations

The second part of the concert led us to more modern regions. Jeanne Demessieux´s “Attende Domine” is indebted to the French style with expressive harmonies from the  impressionistic school. The garb of the piece was enhanced through Parolini´s mix of unusual colour combinations. Similarly, in the Chorale Meditation on “Herzliebster Jesu” by Bernard Sanders: at first a mysterious line sank in a breathless subbass before the message of the passion came to our ears in a convincing modern setting with extremes and estrangement. Perhaps in the sense of meditation, the colour contrasts hadn´t needed to be so extreme since the piece itself has enough expressive content. The program was rounded off with Johannes Brahms. The Chorale “O Traurigkeit, O Herzeleid” was introduced in a nasal tone which broke the softer texture of the program. In the Fugue the melody was laid out in the lower range in augmentation with corresponding colours. A convincing musical late afternoon in Lent, which a false Spring prevented from being as well attended as it had deserved.

On February 11th the Choir remembered the Pope with music by Mendelssohn, Reger and Brahms.
“Città di Desio”, homage in notes for Pope Pius XI.

Saturday February 11th was the 77th anniversary of the Patti Lateranensi (February 11th 1929), of which Pope Ratti was the real author. For the occasion the study-day “Pius XI and his time” ended in the evening, at the Basilica, with the Recital “Kirchenmusik” (Church Music), proposed for the occasion by Maestro Enrico Balestreri, in which the protagonists were the Choir “Città di Desio” and the organist Maestro Giorgio Parolini. In the program pieces across the Classic and Romantic periods, by F. Mendelssohn, M. Reger and J. Brahms. During the presentation Maestro Balestreri dwelled upon the three composers “who teached composing a repertory suitable to set the words of the Psalm to music”. “Austere music, music of high relief” was Maestro Adolfo d’Aniello’s comment, visibly fascinated by the interpretations. Marvellous was the organist Giorgio Parolini, who accepted the difficult challenge of the scores (Balestreri emphasized that in some of the pages played, the area of the black of the notes on the staff exceeds the void of the white), succeding in expressing the assurance of his exceptional technique. Particularly in M. Reger’s Fantasy and Fugue on “Halleluja! Gott zu loben” Op.52, the organist undertook on the interpretation of the music of the German Maestro with amazing play of timbres and sounds. So we had the impression of the music coming from the universe, from the sky and pouring over the audience. Just so. As for him, Maestro Enrico Balestreri, with the choir he conducted, who brings the name of our city, has reached sublime levels: in spite of the difficulty of the comprehension of the language (all the pieces were in German) he knew how to charm, because a moment of rapture was enough to lose the thread. At the end of the concert a vigorous applause sealed the success which repeated the one of Haendel’s “Messiah” some weeks ago. The performance of last Saturday came ahead of the début of the choir “Città di Desio” at Monza Cathedral, always under Maestro Enrico Balestreri’s direction, scheduled on March 31st. In program an engaging masterpiece: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Requiem”.

U. S.

From “Il Cittadino”
 

Final concert of the series “Sommerkonzerte” and concert in the “Bachtage” with Giorgio Parolini at the Erlöserkirche

Last year Giorgio Parolini was forced to cancel at the last moment his concert with the International Organ Summer (Sommerkonzerte) because of family problems. Finally now the Milanese organist is guest in Potsdam. With his concert at the Erlöserkirche, full house, he closed the Organ Summer “a gusto italiano”, offering at the same time an anticipation for the “Bachtage”. Not only the Fantasia by Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713 – 1780), Johann Sebastian Bach’s pupil, but also some mediterranean souvenirs convey to us the soul full of melodies of the Italians. But at the beginning the clear and well defined borders of the North German Organ School are perceived: the melody of Dietrich Buxtehude’s (1637-1707) Praeludium in E minor whispers quietly and subdued, followed by the Chorale Prelude on “Christ unser Herr, zum Jordan kam”, played resolutely. These contrasts are characteristic of the Organ Summer, and we find them too in two Bach’s pieces we listened to different times during the series. Very cheerful and dancing was the Chorale Prelude on “Schmucke dich, o liebe Seele” BWV 654. The organists Martin Stephan and Kilian Nauhaus played this piece with the same idea of timbre, using flute-stops. Contrary to his Viennese teacher Peter Planyavsky, who during his concert played Bach’s Toccata, Adagio and Fugue quickly and merrily, Giorgio Parolini starts this work in a more restrained way, without be lacking in virtuosity and elegance in the Pedal-solo – always “a gusto italiano”. The maximum of the Italian “cliché” was reached with Krebs’ Fantasia. Then we have a sharp clear separation with “Toccata capricciosa” by Lionel Rogg (born in 1936 and teacher of the organist), characterized by syncopated rhytms and by passages reminiscent of Messiaen. Certainly an original piece, as the two pieces from “Parafrasi Gregoriane” by Eugenio Maria Fagiani (born in 1972), with an archaic plan enriched by “clusters” and syncopations. In this case the composer refused decidely to follow the italian cliché which ascribes to Italy only opera and belcanto. But no fear! “Thème et Variations” Op. 115 by Marco Enrico Bossi (1861-1925) brings us again the classical picture of the Italian music. After an angry beginning we can leave ourselves to the melodies, which are not at all disturbed by the vehemence of the chords in the principal voices. Sounds full of colours everywhere and Giorgio Parolini utilizes all the stops of the organ. With a mild encore he thanks for the vigorous applause.
The 14th edition of the “Sommerkonzerte” in Potsdam by now is part of the past. The twelve concerts, carried out some at the Erlöserkirche and some at the Friedenskirche, gave us the possibility to hear many pieces unknown in this country. Obviously Bach was the favourite, followed by Messiaen and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Some works were played twice or three times, giving the possibility to do some interesting comparisons. Anyhow the absolute “highlight” was the inauguration of the Woehl organ at the Friedenskirche. We spent some really exciting weeks.

Peter Buske

From “Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten”, 17/09/2004

Giorgio Parolini guest at the “Organ Recital Series” at the Cathedral (Dom-Orgelzyklus)

MINDEN – Giorgio Parolini’s organ recital was characterized by a very unusual sequence of pieces which didn’t place the musical peak at the end – as expected – because the Italian soloist played Franz Liszt’s masterpiece, “Prelude and Fugue on B.A.C.H.”, between an important piece by César Franck and a very effective piece, but not really first-rate, by a lesser-known composer.
The excellent technical ability of the Italian musician justifies this particular choice. Every work he played took a unique musical form. Even if it would be possible to discuss about the fact that a different sequence of pieces could be artistically more suggestive.
For instance Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Toccata, Adagio and Fugue” BWV 564: Giorgio Parolini begins with a generous gesture, in the Adagio he finds a quiet phrasing which underlines the melody, and ends with the Fugue in an explosive way. A well-knit and admissible interpretation, but one could hope for a more transparent execution too. On the other end the continuous tension expressed by the artist made everything involving.
This was the characteristic of the other pieces too: Johann Pachelbel’s “Ciaccona” was lovable and full of colours, thanks to the Kuhn organ; César Franck’s “Prélude, Fugue et Variation” was exactely played with the lightness typical of the French music, rendering it exciting.
Giorgio Parolini crowned his performance with Franz Liszt’s “Prelude and Fugue on B.A.C.H.” where, thanks to his virtuosity, he was able to control the overwhelming forces of the music. Than he ends – soothing the restless waters – first with an “Andantino” by Dénis Bédard, a recent piece whose romantic theme could let one think to another epoch, then with two works by the Italian Marco Enrico Bossi. Pleasant music but not overwhelming, although Parolini committed himself completely with fervour.
At the end the audience received, as an encore, David Johnson’s “Trumpet Tune”.

Udo Stephan Köhne

From “Mindener Tageblatt”, 11/10/2003

From "Darmstaedter Echo", August the 9^th, 2002

                                                                                                 Christoph Schulte im Walde

From "Westfälische Nachrichten", May the 1^st, 2001

"….Giorgio Parolini’s ease and security were very noticeable, he started very well with Frescobaldi (above all the Canzona IV)….Him, Giorgio Parolini, has convinced the attentive and applauding public….".

B. Sburlino

From "Il Gazzettino", May the 4^th, 1999

"The Organ recitals on the theme ‹‹The Italian School›› has been closed last Friday with a concert of the young and musical organist Giorgio Parolini….In the first part of the concert, played on the organ by Zanin in the ancient church, G. Parolini has brilliantly played with high sense of the form and fine care of execution’s praxis a series of pieces of XVII^th and XVIII^th centuries….

In the second part he has put through his paces the instrument built by Zanin in 1989 for the new church. He has played with much elegance Bach’s Fugue on a theme by Corelli and the Concert in A minor after Vivaldi…..Warm ovations have been tributed to the skilful organist, who played as an encore the triumphant "Entrée Pontificale" by M.E. Bossi.

Renato della Torre

From "Messaggero Veneto", May the 3^rd 1999

"Between Bach’s organ works (the artistic direction asked for all the Toccatas and Fugues, one every concert) the one played by Parolini (BWV 566) seemed to us the most weighty, especially for the registrations: stout sonorities without to compromise the intelligibility of the articulation, sternness and a great solemnity easily conjugated each other. The brilliant virtuosity of the young musician has been confirmed without doubts in the B.A.C.H. Prelude and Fugue by Liszt, played with attention of tempos and registrations, and above all showed with great virtuosistic solutions, without to fall in a noisy spectacularity…"

B. Zappa

From "L’Eco di Bergamo", September the 2^nd, 1998