Mallorca Edition Historical Organs – Recordings on the «Queen of Instruments» in Santanyí, Campos and Sencelles
Interpreter: Prof. Martin Schmeding
This video, moderated by Mirjam Wiesemann, contains a documentation of the first meeting with the great Jordi Bosch organ in Santanyí in December 2010 (start of the project).
Audio Demo
This audio file contains a compilation of the 16-minute «Fandango» by Padre Antonio Soler, which can be heard on SACD1 of the edition.
Pictures
Description of the Content
The Jordi Bosch organ from St. Andreu / Santanyí in Mallorca is one of the most beautiful 10 organs in Europe.
Its legendary history, unique sound and architectural form, built in 1762 by one of the most important organ builders of the Iberian region, Jordi Bosch, makes it an instrument which is unmatched in this form.
Inspired by the fascination of the place, the church and the organ, the organist Martin Schmeding and the label Cybele Records realized a special and comprehensive recording project on 6 SACDs with a total duration of 7.5 hours. As a bonus SACD, there are two conversations on SACD6: Mirjam Wiesemann in conversation with organ builder Gerhard Grenzing in his workshop in El Papiol and with Prof. Martin Schmeding at the historic Jordi Bosch organ in Santanyí.
The Team
The label Cybele Records with its artistic director and recording producer Ingo Schmidt-Lucas has developed into one of the most successful young German labels with an extraordinary repertoire. The label received many awards, including e.g. ECHO Klassik, German Music Critics Prize, Grammy Nomination, MIDEM Classical Award, Diapason d’Or, Grammophone Editor’s Choice, German Audio Book Prize and more speaking for the quality of the work.
Together, Martin Schmeding and Ingo Schmidt-Lucas perform recordings with an extraordinary repertoire of original instruments, most recently the ECHO Klassik award-winning organ version of Bach’s Goldberg Variations on the Silbermann organ of the Dresden Cathedral, as well as the 17-part Max Reger Edition, which among others was awarded as one of the best albums of the year 2016 (DIE ZEIT and Musicweb-International.com) and which was nominated for the «International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) 2017» (category: «Best Collection»).
The Composers
The SACDs, produced in 2011 on the historic Jordi Bosch organ of Santanyí, on the historic Gabriel Thomàs organ in Campos and on the historic Mateu Bosch organ in Sencelles, represent five composers who lived between 1561 and 1827:
In Santanyí, selected works by Domenico Scarlatti, José Lidon and Padre Antonio Soler were produced. Each composer should be presented with a separate recording and given a detailed assessment.
Because of the colours of the Santanyí organ their music appeared in a completely new light. Thus, their work and the instrument would be helped to an appropriate validity by the recordings.
The Program of the Edition
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757): Sonatas (1 SACD)
Padre Antonio Solèr (1729-1783): Sonatas, Fugues and Fandango (1 SACD)
José Lidon (1748-1827): Complete Works for Organ (1 SACD)
In Campos and Sencelles 2 SACDs of the following composers were produced as a complement to the «Mallorca Edition Historic Organs» project:
Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia (1561-1627): Organ Works (1 SACD)
Pablo Bruna (1611-1679): Organ Works (1 SACD)
Bonus SACD, recorded on original locations
The edition also includes two conversations as a bonus SACD: Mirjam Wiesemann in conversation with Gerhard Grenzing, as well as with Martin Schmeding (at the great Bosch organ in Santanyí) (1 SACD)
All SACDs play on standard CD-Players.
So far, the works of the Spanish early classics and the organ of Santanyí in the German-speaking countries are also represented relatively rare on CD recordings in relation to their great importance.
Gerhard Grenzing Organ Building Workshop
After the restoration of the instrument and the reconstruction of the mixture and trombone in the 1980s, Gerhard Grenzings son Daniel performed a thorough cleaning and tuning of the instrument in 2011 so that the recordings have achieved a sound quality which makes the instrument in Santanyí shine in its full glow.
Where does your money go?
All rewards are 100% used to cover the following costs:
- Artistic design of the 6SACD Edition
- Production / replication and packaging (printing and SACD mastering) of the 6SACD Edition
Present Situation of the Project
The 6 SACD masters are all ready for replication at Bertelsmann.
The print data (cover, fine Digipak paper envelope and 96-page booklet with many coloured illustrations) are also completely finished. Here a taste for the elegant envelope design: