Daniel Roth - Cavaille-Coll organ at Saint-Ouen in Rouen (2007) [SACD]

Daniel Roth known for his excellent interpretations of the French Romantic Literature and extraordinary improvisations recorded one of Cavaillé-Coll’s masterpieces for a new JAV Recordings release (JAV 165) on the organ in the church of Saint-Ouen in Rouen, France.
The program is varied with works by Guilmant, Boulanger, Vierne, Alain, Messiaen and one of Roth’s compositions based on the Magnificat. The recording was made in Surround Sound and will play on either a regular CD player or an SACD player. The recording was made for JAV by the noted recording engineer Christoph Frommen. The SACD layer has a special bonus narrated tour of the stops at Saint-Ouen. In this bonus section Daniel Roth talks about different individual stops and groups of stops and then improvises on them.
Included in the 32 page booklet that accompanies the CD is an interview with Denis Lacorre, the organ builder who cares for the instrument. Denis Lacorre discusses fascinating details about the history, design and care of the organ at Saint-Ouen. Numerous photos are included in the booklet along with excellent music notes by Stephen Tharp and an essay by Joe Vitacco on the week the JAV team spent in the medieval town of Rouen.
This disc will play on a standard CD player, but an SACD player is needed to hear it in Surround Sound and Daniel Roth’s narrated tour. These CDs are considerably more expensive to record, master and manufacture, this is the reason for the higher price. The audio results are out of this world.