FELIX HELL

• J.S. Bach: "St. Anne" Fugue (excerpt)

“Barber’s Adagio...is quite affecting in this guise... [Stewart's Sonetto] is well structured and effective... The disc is well recorded...”

James A. Altena, Fanfare [November/December 2017]

“What might we expect from a CD of organ music entitled “Heroic Proportions”? Might it be pieces which require heroic virtuosity from the player? Or might it be music which calls for a heroically-proportioned organ? The answer is, in this case, a bit of each... [the J.W. Steere and Son instrument] is clearly an organ of heroic proportions... [Hell] is a highly capable technician, capable of rattling off reams of short-value notes very quickly indeed and one who, one suspects, rarely puts a finger, thumb or foot out of place. Accuracy seems phenomenal – and I suspect that is not the result of judicious editing – and articulation is almost dazzling in its clarity.”

Marc Rochester, MusicWeb International [September 2017]

“this recording demonstrates that the “wunderkind” [Felix Hell] has emerged as a mature performer, who plays these oft-recorded pieces with technical assurance and rhythmic verve and imagination... excellent recorded sound captures the instrument’s richness and warmth. What really saves the recording is Hell’s playing. His Bach and Franck are clean, energetic, and committed... Hell maintained my interest [in the Willan] with a performance that unfolds logically and is imbued with an exciting forward momentum... I have grown to like this recording very much.”

Delcamp, American Record Guide [September/October 2017]

"Hell is quite a performer: he handles all the varying works and varying styles with aplomb, his pedal work is first-rate, and he seems quite as comfortable with the grandeur of Bach as with the warmth of Barber and the more-contemporary sound of Stewart."

Mark J. Estren, InfoDad [July 2017]

“Every now and then comes an organ recital that is perfectly satisfying in every respect. This is one occasion. Here we have one of the great young organists of our time playing an engaging program consisting of two staples of the literature, a fine transcription of a work for strings, and two works of recent vintage that already have the label “modern classic” stamped on them. Superb sound recordings allow us to optimally hear every contrapuntal strain and nuance.”

Phil Muse, Audio Society of Atlanta [May 2017]

ORGAN: J. W. STEERE & SON, OPUS 665 (1914)
Rebuilt by M. P. Möller Co. (1958) and R. J. Brunner & Co. (1995)
Console and additions by R. J. Brunner & Co. (2010)
ST. MARK LUTHERAN CHURCH | HANOVER, PENNSYLVANIA

FELIX HELL is one of the most sought-after concert organists of his generation. He has had a vibrant career as a concerto soloist and recitalist and has performed more than 850 solo recitals throughout his native Germany, as well as in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Spain, Russia, and throughout the United States of America, where he has performed more than 500 recitals in 46 states. At the age of 21, Felix Hell received global recognition for his performances of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach in three full cycles. Most recently, in 2013, Felix Hell was engaged by the Germany Embassy in Seoul, Korea, to perform the complete organ works of Bach there, commemorating the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and South Korea. Felix Hell continues to innovate in his field through expanding the traditional boundaries of the organ, collaborating with artists of various fields, and has dedicated his life to sharing his passion for excellence in music.

[ www.felixhell.com ]
  JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major “St. Anne”, BWV 552

CÉSAR FRANCK (1822-1890)
Pièce Héroïque (1878)

SAMUEL BARBER (1910-1981)
Adagio, Op.11 (1936)
Arranged for organ by William Strickland

WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING
ERIC R. STEWART (b.1985)
Sonetto (2012)

HEALEY WILLAN (1880-1968)
Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue, B.149 (1916)
 



MSR Classics