on the Metzler organ of St. Peter's Cathedral, Geneva
ORG 7103 2
70'02"

All the pieces on this CD date from the 1990s & feature the usual modern European ingredients of Ligeti/Takemitsu/Part-like tone clusters & pianistic ostinati with some Messiaenic registrations. Rogg's offerings are of a superior brand because

• they're concise & don't outstay their welcome and
• as a master player he knows how to voice the clusters to achieve maximum clarity & beauty.

This can be heard "par excellence" in Les Quatre Elements - Hommage a Takemitsu, which I'd gladly hear again & again. More conventional organ textures are heard in the Livre d'Orgue, which pays homage to the French classical organ, but with thoroughly modern astringent harmony. The Hommage a Maurice Durufl has the energy of 20th century Russian composers like Shostakovich or Stravinsky & the Toccata capricciosa almost suggests Hakim!

The versatile 4-manual Metzler of St. Peter's Geneva is very well suited to Rogg's colourful and pictorial visions as heard in Apparitions and Lux Aeterna, and it receives a stunning recording with a huge dynamic range. Rogg's booklet notes acknowledge the challenge of listening to "so many rather tormented pages", but I do believe some tracks on this CD merit repeated listening. CN