 L'amour et la mort (Widor, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, Fauré), I. Apkalna (Oehms, 2011) |
Washington Post, May 23, 2014
This season the Kennedy Center instituted a concert series to put the new pipe organ in the Concert Hall, donated by the Rubenstein Family, through its paces. The last concert of the series fell to Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna, who played a varied and demanding program on Wednesday evening.Iveta Apkalna, organ
Old and new were paired on the first half, with three improvisation-like “Evocations” by Thierry Escaich, the organist at the church of St.-Etienne-du-Mont in Paris, interspersed with more traditional pieces by J. S. Bach. The tempestuous second “Evocation,” with its roiling ostinato C in octaves in the pedal, led nicely into Bach’s C minor passacaglia and fugue (BWV 582), in which the same note is the foundation of the bass pattern. Apkalna showed off her pedal feet more in ... [Continue reading]
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
There was not space in the review to mention that, for an encore, Apkalna played the famous Toccata by Charles-Marie Widor, from the Organ Symphony No. 5 (F Minor, Op. 42, No. 1).
PREVIOUSLY:
- Paul Jacobs (February 7, 2014)
- Cameron Carpenter (October 18, 2013)
On YouTube you'll find her terrific performance of the Poulenc concerto, though with the first portion missing. The Kremerata Baltica accompanies her in Riga (Latvia) Cathedral. In a separate interview she praises the musicianship of the orchestra, which is well merited.
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