Mendelssohn: Organ Sonatas
Jonathan Dimmock, Holzhey organ, Weissenau, Germany
Loft LRCD 112 (7744)
rating: FIVE STARS!
Those used to romanticised interpretations of Mendelssohn’s sonatas may find this recording uncomfortable, especially in Werckmeister III temperament. Mendelssohn, however, had a penchant for classically voiced organs and was full of praise for the southern German organ builder Johann Nepomuk Holzhey. The 1787 organ in Weissenau, surviving in original condition, is an excellent choice. Dimmock’s recording succeeds in illustrating Mendelssohn’s lineage to the great Bach tradition with extremely persuasive performances of the six organ sonatas.
– Rupert Gough
Choir & Organ magazine, Sept./Oct. 2010