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Sydney Opera House Concert Hall Grand Organ
Recorded in concert during the inaugural concert series in 1979
The Sydney Opera House Grand Organ is in many ways a unique instrument. With 10,500 pipes, of which 2700 can be sounded simultaneously, it is both the largest instrument in the country, and the largest mechanical action organ in the world.
This CD contains historic recordings made during the inaugural recital series in 1979 when the organ was launched. The organists DOUGLAS LAWRENCE gave the inaugural recital on the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ. He was for many years artistic director of the Melbourne International Festival of Organ and Harpsichord, and was director of the Choir of Ormond College until 2006. He travels extensively on concert engagements in many countries around the world. ROBERT AMPT, a student of David Rumsey and Anton Heiller, has been the Sydney City Organist since 1978 and Organist/Choirmaster of Sydney's German Lutheran Church since 1985. His organ and choral music is distributed by Birralee Publishing. He is married to Sydney University Organist Amy Johansen. CHRISTA RUMSEY, who also studied with Heiller, taught, up unto the late 1970s, at the Sydney Conservatorium, and then moved to Adelaide to take up a teaching position there. DONALD HOLLIER, organist and composer, was director of the Canberra Opera Company at the time of this recording. A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, WILLIAM PIERCE was organist at a number of churches around Australia, Director of Music at various schools and Launceston City Organist for many years. He was a well-known recitalist and composer of liturgical music. He died in 1996. Press quotes:
“Congratulation to Move Records for re-releasing in an expanded form this disc from the inaugural recital series of the Opera House organ in 1979 . . . A spirit of adventure also pervades the performers . . . of particular note is [Donald] Hollier's mercurial account of Liszt's monumental Prelude and Fugue on B.A.C.H.”
— Tony Way, The Age Greenguide “I consider the disk is a must-have for both the music and the history. I think I'll just listen to it once more before bed.”— David Powis, Plenum Magazine “What an excellent gesture on behalf of MOVE . . . this is all delightfully played and registered most colourfully on an instrument offering unlimited possibilities . . . the CD also includes excellent notes on the music with further information on the instrument”— John Maidment, Organ Historical Trust of Australia News, July 2008 Track Listing:
Catalogue Number: MD3030
Price: AU$26.00
(convert to $US)
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall Grand Organ can be purchased through Buywell Just Classical who offer secure on-line ordering. |
 Featured Artists:
Melbourne organist Douglas Lawrence is, Director of Music at The Scots' Church and Teacher of the Organ at the University of Melbourne and was the founding director of Choir of Ormond College, a position he held from 1982 to 2006.
He frequently performs as a soloist for major music organisations within Australia and his concert career has taken him throughout most of the western world. He has released a number of recordings through the Move label which have received outspoken praise from reviewers. Robert Ampt is the Sydney City Organist and Organist/Choirmaster of Sydney’s German Lutheran Church. An active recitalist and teacher, he composes and arranges music for the organ, has written two children’s introductions to the organ, and has written an extensive history of the Sydney Town Hall organ.
Christa Rumsey was born in Vienna, Austria in 1943. In 1961 she became a student of the renowned organist, conductor and composer Anton Heiller at the Vienna Academy of Music and the Performing Arts, and graduated in Organ Performance in 1966
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