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ORTOA (Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside Organists' Association) brought in the New Year with one of the elite of the younger generation of virtuosi, Clive Driskill-Smith at the Town Hall.
Thanks to ORTOA it really is a joy to hear our own town hall instrument in all its glory - apart from one or two problems. Celebrated as a noteworthy European instrument it is a pity that artistes of this calibre have to modify their programmes because of its poor maintenance by the local council!
Despite this Clive gave a superb recital admirably suited to the instrument starting with commanding performances of Bossi and Stanford. Topical items straddled the ages with J.S.Bach's three chorale preludes for the New Year and Reger's chromatic development of this tradition with Christmas preludes, and a specially commissioned capricious contemporary piece by David Sanger. The broody romantic Elegy by Thalben-Ball contrasted well with Mozart's Fantasia K608. But the piece de resistance was Durufle's suite: an atmospheric Funeral March and silky Sicilienne led to a thundering Toccata with huge black strokes of tone clusters provided a fitting climax. A delightful scherzo by Widor made a well-deserved encore for an inspiring concert from a rising star.
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