Recommend Your Top 5 Pipe Organ LPs


Someone asked a few nights ago, and I realized my few pipe organ recordings are all on CD. I don't have any specific musical requests, and I'm fairly amenable to most eras and genres of music. My requests are:

-LPs, not CDs;

-of excellent musical quality and a superlative performance first and foremost;

-preferably better than average to astonishing sonically. I'd prefer to avoid "audiophile labels" as they generally leave me underwhelmed (so please avoid MFSL, half-speed this and that, Super-Discs, blah, blah blah -- the originals are generally significantly better anyway);

-I have nothing against mono and often, older is better.

Thanks!

-Richard
palasr
Something similar but different.
A four LP set under the heading The Golden Age of the Organ
performed by E. Power Biggs on twelve surviving organs by the master builder ARP SCHNITGER (1648-1719). Playing eight Bach preludes and fugues, Concerto in D minor after Vivaldi, Selections from the Anna Magdalena Book, Dorian Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Fanfare Fugue in C Major and works by walther and Pepping.
All the organs are intact or recreations of the originals and are tuned to the way Bach would have heard them. It gives a very different sound than one is used to.
Thanks folks! BTW, I have nothing against a label like Opus 3, since they have a vast catalog of original releases.

We were in Passau, Germany last summer and had the privilege of hearing an organ performance at St. Stephen's cathedral. This being the largest pipe organ outside the US, it was quite a treat, particularly given the baroque setting and the charming town of Passau. A fine evening's worth of music.

-Richard
Careful on the "magnum Opus" and "Recital" lps by Wilson. I got mine brand new from Accoustic Sounds and the surface noise made them unlistenable. Considering the production source, I was somewhat shocked by this. My copies could have been anomalies (hopefully) but buyer beware anyway.

As counterintuitive as it might sound, I would like to add the two lp box set of "The Digital Fox" on the Ultragroove label (not to be confused with the similar performances on the Crystal Clear label). I have two copies of this gem and it was the only audio related possession I took with me, either hardware or software wise, when I evacuated for Katrina. Virtually all who have heard it at my house from our local club have sought it out. It's a ball.