Organist Simon Preston delighted the audience with his expressive playing at a series of performances with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra from January 18th to 20th. Returning to the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas for his second appearance, the distinguished organ virtuoso and conductor joined Maestro Kees Bakels to create an evening of breathtaking musical imagery.
A highly talented performer who has toured the United States, Canada, the Far East, Australia and South Africa, Simon Preston made his debut performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London at the age of 23. He began his musical career as an Organ Scholar at King’s College, Cambridge. The performance in London marked the beginning of his almost-meteoric rise in the classical music world as he went on to be appointed as Sub-Organist of Westminster Abbey and later became Organist of the Cathedral and Tutor in Music at Christ Church Oxford where he was praised for his work with the choir.
Besides writing most of the musical score for the film Amadeus, Preston was the music director at the wedding of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew as well. He is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Calgary International Organ Competition, a prestigious international music competition that attracts the world’s most talented emerging concert artists to compete for the largest prize package in international organ competition.
His recording career spans forty years and he has recorded almost fifty CDs to date. This includes Haydn’s Organ Concerto in C Major with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, as well as two versions of the Handel Organ Concertos with both Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Trevor Pinnock.
Among the awards that he has received are the Edison Classique for his recordings of Messiaen’s Les Corps Glorieux and Hindemith’s Organ Sonatas along with a Grand Prix du Disquefor a recording of Handel’s Coronation Anthems with the Westminster Abbey Choir which he conducted. He was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for his performance with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra of Copland’s Symphony for the Organ.
Although he did not perform using the majestic Klais Pipe Organ, Preston was in his element nonetheless, opening with Handel’s Organ Concerto No.13 in F- “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale”. This charming piece was given a whimsical touch, courtesy of Preston himself, in the second movement where the cuckoo and the nightingale share an animated “conversation”.
Two of Haydn’s pieces followed – Symphony No.38 in C – “The Echo” and Organ Concerto in C. The former started off at a stately pace that was soon interspersed with lovely bursts of enthusiasm and energy as both soloist and orchestra ably took on Haydn’s many radical twists and turns. The echo effect – from which the piece gets its name – was a delight to listen to. There was even a section in the second movement when the delightful cuckoo from the Handel Concerto made a surprise visit!
The latter piece painted a picture of sombre yet grand proceedings. Not surprising since it was composed in honour of Haydn’s sister-in-law when she took the veil. A rather abrupt change from the light mood created by the first two pieces, but an excellent choice to showcase Preston’s ability to evoke a multitude of emotions through his playing. It is not hard to see why he was recently named one of “The Greatest Players of the Century” by Classic CD magazine. An apt title for one with such amazing talent.
The MPO took over in full force after the intermission with a performance of Mozart’s Posthorn Serenade. Consisting of seven movements, the piece was a collage of different wind instruments being allowed to come to the fore. The flute, bassoon, oboe, piccolo, and the well-hidden posthorn (which was played somewhere off stage) all took turns to bring this piece to life. Kudos to all these brilliant performers!
First Published: 05.02.2002 on Kakiseni