ASO In Review

An exceptional review for ASO Magnificence from In Review. Click on the Source URL for the full review.

Bringing renowned Perth-based, British-born organist Joseph Nolan over for this ASO Magnificence concert seems to have been his initiative, and we can be especially thankful for that. Heard here once before in 2020, Nolan is an exceptional master of the instrument.

Fair to say, he was stunning in Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542. Along with a mountain of power that he is able to generate from the Cathedral’s 53-stop organ, he possesses an artistry that makes his playing totally satisfying. The big, stentorian chords that start the Fantasia bore wonderful heft and solidity, while the florid passages that lace them together, and especially the fugue that follows later, carried a surprising speed. How Nolan could dance his way so swiftly over the pedal notes with his feet was a sheer mystery.

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Joseph Nolan
Limelight Magazine 'Nolan's blistering account of the Barber pedal cadenza'

It was said of JS Bach that, at the organ, his feet moved faster than most players’ fingers. You could say the same about Joseph Nolan.

Connoisseurs of the best organ playing will already know this. After all, Perth-based Nolan is an internationally acclaimed organist of the first rank, and his recordings of Widor’s music in particular have won him countless accolades.

As for the rest of us, we were left in no doubt following this account of Samuel Barber’s Toccata festiva for organ and orchestra, which included a blistering assault by Nolan on the work’s show-stopping pedals-only cadenza.

Click on the Source URL for the full review.

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Joseph Nolan