Concert review | Organist Iveta Apkalna skillfully combined the extremes: Bach’s strums and Glass’s minimalism

Helsinki Festival Weeks. Iveta Apkalna, organ, at Musiikkitalo 31.8. Glass, Bach.

Only another one by Johann Sebastian Bach an organist on the verge of death Iveta Apkalna finds a way to play the baroque that comes alive with the modern concert organ of the Musiikkitalo. Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582) usually begins to absorb strongly from the very first notes.

Now it lingers, falls almost backwards. But suddenly everything falls into place: tempo, timbre, suction, climax.

The wonderful instrument of the music hall bends as if it bends to the baroque organ music traditionally heard in church halls. And the continuation of the concert reveals why Latvian Iveta Apkalna, who works as an organist at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie concert hall, has been invited to give a recital.

The program form a minimalist by Philip Glass (1937–) and a dialogue of works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1759). Glass is a pioneer in how to make a lot out of little. Bach, on the other hand, is the unsurpassed master of counterpoint, of rich sound transport that follows the rules.

In the music house’s organ recitals, the listener is first challenged by the acoustics, because the church reverberation familiar to organ music ears, which binds the sound, is missing. to the first Bach, Fantasia, G major (BWV 572) Apkalna chooses a supportive basic registration. Instead of a loose way of playing, the fingers begin to find glue to create the desired sound.

Philip Glass’s compositions, on the other hand, require both technical skill and a firm belief in repeated, intense “tickling” of the same subject, because they create the magic of the works. Glass’s Satyagraha sticks to the theme for a few notes, still managing to grow into a wave. Music in Contrary Motion evokes a funny image of miniature people in the endless bustle of a city of millions. The hypnotic nature of the works involves staying in the same registration.

Six-voiced fugue, Ricercar 6by Bach Das Musikalische Opfer – collection allows Apkalna to show his musical skill both as a Bach musician and as an organist. The fugue is delightfully multifaceted until its stunning end.

This was followed by Glass Mad Rush has its own mini-world created around two topics, where the organ and its player get to shine as creators of a good-natured atmosphere.

After the concert, M. Keller’s organ arrangement by Bach From Chaconne (BWV 1004) is pure praise of the organ and Bach.

Finnish organ and church music education has also produced top organists for decades. If Apkalna awakened Bach’s hunger, there is plenty of high-quality food on offer.