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In a singularly bold performance, Franz Lehrndorder, Professor at the Munich Academy of Music, performs the works of Bach, Böhm, and others, as well as showing his improvisational skills on the new organ in the Dome at Munich.

As highbrow as I would like to appear to my readers, the best I can do is to say that I had only just remarked that I was in the mood to hear some fine organ interpretations of Christmas and, remarkably, this one arrived on my doorstep.

The Professor does a magnificent job interpreting the greats, but I found myself even more impressed with his own compositions. His choral prelude Es ist ein Ros entsprungen put me in mind of a cold winters day on a walk through the park, admiring the beautiful orange berries on the deciduous holly that grows in these parts. It is a wonderfully placid piece, which he follows with a more spirited composition O laufet, ihr Hirten, demonstrating his masterful phrasing and articulation.

But I was most impressed with his Free Improvisation over In Dulci Jubilo. Here he demonstrates a unique combination of subtle musicality and exuberant showmanship, moving from a subdued opening, through an energetic rendering of the classical elements, to an explosive climax that must have been heard all the way to the most remote München suburbs.

This is one of nine fine Christmas CDs available from Celestial Harmonies.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 1998)

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Franz Lehrndorfer

Celestial Christmas 5

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Track List