Clear and lympid structures

PFORZHEIM. What have a flag colours and an “Orgelsommer” concert in Pforzheim to share? This is precisely the case in which the bright Italian tricolour is musically reflected into the program that Luca Benedicti offered to the audience in St. Francis church. Relying on two baroque pieces fluently designed by his compatriots Domenico Zipoli (1688-1726) and Mozart’s teacher Giambattista Martini, the Italian organist has created the anacrusis at the single keyboard choir organ.

High musical culture. Benedicti's highly evident musical learning, clearly distinct from pure technical affectation, is fully expressed at the majestic principal Organ during Mendelssohn's Sonata in A major op. 65 n. 3, a carefully conceived architecture of sounds full of every kind of tones going clearly beyond Bach's guidelines. Moreover the soloist develops a special sensibility to the intrinsic poetical suggestion by employing delicate piano nuances in one of the pieces from Cantabile in Si major from César Franck's “Trois Pièces pour grand orgue” as well as creating a wise plot of thin sounds in the andante cantabile from Widor's 4th Symphony. An ascendent involvement in correspondence with the time of execution dominates on the other hand the allegro from Louis Vierne's 2nd Symphony. The Allegro from the late romantic Italian Marco Enrico Bossi's Sonata n. 1 in Re major, op. 60, begins with a marked Introduction to proceed with a soft dynamics conducted in sweet toccatas for the Larghetto. The final Toccata is performed in a particularly expressive way: the branches of the tones grow slowly at the beginning to develop later in majestic tree of sounds. Sigfried Karg-Elert is usually able to divide musical sensitivities and the 54 Studies on a Handel's theme of basso are not ordinarily managed with ease. Nethertheless Luca Benedicti has splendidly succeeded in keeping the audience interest by employing oscillating stop changes and a dynamical rhythmical multiplicity as well as his technical masterly skill (excellent the Pedalsolo!). To listen to such homage to Mendelssohn is really worthwile.

Translated from Sebastian Giebenrath

Sebastian Giebenrath