With every organ recital at Disney Hall, talented organists have shown that the “king of instruments” is a vital part of the musical firmament. Compelling and important music has been (and continues to be) written for it, and when played by skilled hands and feet, the sounds that the pipes emit are beyond captivating. Hungarian László Fassang returned to Disney Hall Sunday evening with a program revolving around Bach, literally and figuratively, and ending with a fantastic improvisation on two audience-chosen themes.
After nearly 300 years since it was written, Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in F-major” is an impressive piece of music, challenging and exemplary. This was the most conservative of Fassang’s selections, yet it took him a bit to warm up with it, as evidenced by a few small flubs. By the time he got to the fugue though, his characteristic warmth found its way into his playing and continued to expand with each subsequent piece.
German composer Robert Schumann, in an acknowledgement of Bach’s significant influence upon him, composed six fugues using the name “Bach” as a theme. To spell B-A-C-H, the German system uses the four-note motif of B-flat, A, C and B-natural as a musical cryptogram. Fassang’s phrasing and shaping of passages gave the music vivid personality; there was humor during some of the livelier moments. He has an ability to seamlessly manipulate the dynamics, particularly through his use of the expression pedal. Some organists can sound choppy when going from soft to loud or from fewer to more stops. Fassang does not have that issue, and with nifty foot pedal action, Max Reger’s “Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H” made for a very powerful display.
Difficult and tumultuous, Reger’s work brought out the dramatist side in Fassang. He is a storyteller and as such, he filled the music with tension and intrigue. He gave a lucid account of Liszt’s “Fantasy and Fugue on Ad nos, ad Salutarem Undam,” rich with breadth. The program had become progressively better and difficult, yet there was no question that his improvisation on themes by Bach and Liszt was the accomplishment of the evening.
At intermission, Fassang asked the audience to vote on a pair themes that he would incorporate into the improvisation, explaining at a pre-concert talk that he creates it spontaneously. Out of 10 themes, five by each composer, the audience chose Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D-minor” and Liszt’s “Les Preludes.” The result was astounding. He created a beautiful tapestry of thematic development that had varied emotional content. As these themes are extremely popular, he has probably played this combination many times before, but that doesn’t make the quality of his invention any less interesting.
His encore was a short improvisation on what he said was the theme of the organ itself, essentially playing around with all the stops and effects (bells, etc.) that he couldn’t have possibly incorporated into a classical piece. Here, he had some fun with jazzy rhythms and though he had to limit the encore’s duration, it was clear by then that his imagination was limitless.
Ebner Sobalvarro is a Los Angeles-based classical music and jazz aficionado. Having studied English at Boston College, he shares his passions for music at his blog cornerbooth.tumblr.com. Email him at ebner.sobalvarro@gmail.com.