Organ Reviews
As organist, Wayne Marshall has appeared in many of the world’s top venues. Recent seasons have included recitals at Notre Dame, Paris; the Royal Festival Hall; Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Westminster Abbey. He is also organist in residence at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. He has also recorded Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony.
In October 2004 he premiered James MacMillan’s organ concerto “A Scotch Bestiary” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen.
“Wayne Marshall’s hands and feet took control of the Albert Hall organ and out poured the overtures from Tannhauser and Die Meistersinger, plus the Valkyries’ thundering ride, in amazing turn-of-the-century transcriptions by Edwin H. Lemare, the British organ wonder of his age.
Registration changes, crescendos and diminuendos: Marshall engineered every difficulty with fluid aplomb, and discreet help from his page-turner. True, his Tristan und Isolde improvisation became stuck in a chromatic morass. But Marshall made amends with the encore: a Valkyrie improvisation, hurtling, clattering, cheesy, magnificent. Wagner will never be so much fun again.
Geoff Brown – The Times August 3rd 2010 (BBC PROMS)
Sunday’s two Proms allowed us to hear sections from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde as we rarely hear them: first as the basis of an organ improvisation, then on period instruments. The improvisation was part of Wayne Marshall’s afternoon recital, much of which was given over to virtuoso Wagner transcriptions by Edwin Lemare (1866-1934). Lemare preserved the majesty of the Meistersinger overture and the excitement of The Ride of the Valkyries. But the organ’s associations with sanctity also robbed the central section of the Tannhäuser overture of its profanity, while Tristan, as improvised by Marshall, acquired some of the religious sweetness of Fauré. He played it all with terrific abandon, though, and an improvised encore, with the Liebestod and The Ride of the Valkyries juxtaposed in counterpoint, brought the house down. Having previously written that this was a Prom I wanted to avoid, I must eat my words and say how much I liked it.
_Tim Ashley – The Guardian August 3rd 2010 (BBC PROMS) _
“Yesterday, in true Proms fashion, we were transported to utterly different musical worlds. The French organ school from Dupré to Messiaen was brought to flamboyant life by Wayne Marshall.”
Ivan Hewitt – Telegraph August 5th 2008 (BBC PROMS)
“Organ recitals can be deadly experiences, yet Wayne Marshall’s solo Prom on Sunday afternoon was an enthralling affair, carefully programmed and consistently riveting. Its aim was to examine Messiaen’s work within the context of 20th-century French organ music, by placing his Verset pour la Fête de la Dédicace and Prélude alongside pieces by his teacher Marcel Dupré, his fellow pupil Jeanne Demessieux and his Lebanese-born successor at the Sainte-Trinité in Paris, Naji Hakim.
Much of it served as a reminder, at times by default, of the sensuous approach to both sound and spirituality that makes Messiaen so remarkable. Hakim’s orientally-inflected “Pange Lingua” is glorious; but at Messiaen’s side, “Demessieux” sounds like Poulenc and consequently old-fashioned, while Dupré has his energy but not his harmonic daring. Marshall capped his programme with a massive, jazzily syncopated improvisation that brought the house down."
Guardian – Tim Ashley August 5th 2008 (BBC PROMS)
“The second half had opened with a vigorous performance of ‘Dieu parmi nous’ from Messiaen’s “La Nativité du Seigneur” by organist Wayne Marshall. Marshall’s control of the work’s complex rhythmic structure was mesmerising, as was his focused flexing of the organ’s muscular capabilities, most notably in the final crescendo that brought the movement to a triumphant close."
Musicalcriticism.com 18th July 2008 (BBC PROMS)
“Wayne Marshall showed us how a dazzling array of registrations can transform the Albert Hall organ from birdlike diminution to Gothic roar in “Dieu parmi nous” from Messiaen’s “La Nativité du Seigneur.”"
The Independent – Edward Seckerson 23rd July 2008 (BBC PROMS)
“Every light in South Kensington must have flickered as the exuberant Wayne Marshall put the Albert Hall organ through its monster-raving-loony paces in Messiaen’s “Dieu parmi nous.”"
Richard Morrison – The Times July 19th 2008 (BBC PROMS)
“Finally, Wayne Marshall demonstrated one of his great strengths – that of improvisation. For those who cannot get enough of our centenary celebrations, in any form, his improvisation was based upon three brief themes by Messiaen. This was really something – superb playing, thrilling and moving by turns, and a conception which showed this wonderful instrument off to its full advantage, unlike some of the stuff we had to sit through dutifully, as though we were in church, half-attendant on a rather inept sermon, before this fiery and brilliant conclusion woke us up.”
Classical Source.com – Robert Matthew Walker (BBC PROMS, 2008)