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Rochester Showtime Available on CD CD $17 UK Customers Only (PPD): CD 12 GBP |
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Rochester Showtime Available on CD CD $17 UK Customers Only (PPD): CD 12 GBP |
1 SAN FRANCISCO : Bronislaw Kaper & Walter Jurmann –
2:16
2 BLAZE AWAY : Abe Holzmann – 2:11
3 ROSE MARIE : Rudolph Friml – 6:46
4 TEMPTATION : Nacio Herb Brown - 3:18
5 TEQUILA! : Chuck Rio – 1:42
6 GYMNOPEDIE : Eric Satie – 2:30
7 BILL BAILEY :Hughie Cannon – 2:08
8 FUNERAL MARCH : Charles Gounoud – 3:29
9 KRAZY KAT : D. Graham/Zez Confrey – 2:19
10 AIR ON THE G STRING : J.S. Bach – 2:49
11 ELLINGTON MEDLEY: Duke Ellington – 4:30
12 NOW FROM THE ALTAR : W.H.Havergal/G. Young – 2:27
13 THE MARCH HARE : Phil Green; SKYE BOAT SONG : Traditional – 4:27
14 MARGIE : Davis/Conrad/Robinson; AVALON : Jolson/Rose; WHEN YOU’RE SMILING : Shay/Fisher/Goodwin –
4:26
15 GRANADA : Augustin Lara – 2:56
16 GERSHWIN MEDLEY : George Gershwin – 4:26
17 NIGHT AND DAY : Cole Porter – 2:56
18 RUSSIAN RAG : George L. Cobb – 2:19
19 PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ : Irving Berlin – 2:32
20 SINGING IN THE RAIN : Nacio Herb Brown – 9:05
21 ROSALIE : Cole Porter; I DOUBLE DARE YOU : Shand/Eaton – 6:46
There were close to 1400 people in the audience at this recording and with that many people in the room there are of necessity extraneous noises. Unable to contain their enthusiasm, they clap along with Blaze Away, they react with amusement when they recognize the Hitchcock theme and the progression from the Moonlight Sonata into Night and Day, and they cough and sneeze - A LOT!
Some of those explosive noises can be edited out but in many cases it was impossible to do that without affecting the integrity of the music. Also in many cases it was possible to edit out the applause at the end of selections (always preferable in a CD) but in some cases the applause began before the last note had finished and that just had to be faded out as soon as possible.
Don Thompson’s concerts are always exciting and we think that the excitement is well captured on this recording. As George Kimball said in his review of this concert in the Rochester Times-Union, “Certainly he was having fun at the big console and among the audience the fun was catching.”
Comments in reviews of other
concerts include: “Don Thompson was a sensation, his repertoire and
performance were superb and made the concert a huge success.” (Riviera
Theatre)…”His invasion of Broadway was a memorable success - in one word –
showmanship.” (Palace, New York)….”He provided the lovers of organ music
with an evening long to be remembered.” (San Diego Fox)... This
internationally famous organist lived up to his reputation when he thrilled the
audience with his electrifying musical arrangements. “ (Thomaston Opera
House)...”A wonderful concert.” (Proctor’s Theatre).
Needless to say, Don returns again and again to these theatres. He has played in Rochester at least ten times and at the Rivera, North Tonawanda twenty times. In earlier years he appeared no fewer than fifteen times at Old Town Music Hall in Los Angeles and a similar number of times at the Avenue Theatre, San Francisco. Thompson clearly is an entertainer rather than a self-appointed preserver of an art form. Needless to say, a really entertaining concert experience can be found on this recording for all those who have never had the opportunity to hear Don Thompson play live, in person.
Don arrived in America in 1968, and has lived in a number of places in California (mostly in San Francisco) and even in Toronto for a seven-year period. He is now happily retired in the resort community of Palm Springs with his spouse, his puppy, his two cats and a galaxy of friends. His web site is at www.pipeorganpresentations.com and you are able to order other recordings from that site if you so wish.
The Rochester Theatre Organ Society 4/23 Wurlitzer is in its second home, a building dimensionally and acoustically similar to the Rochester RKO Palace theatre for which it was originally specified and built. It retains its original relay and combination system and most of the original specifications. It receives ongoing maintenance and rebuilding and is beautifully maintained by the RTOS dedicated volunteer work crew. In the spring of 1995 a team of professional voicers was engaged to perform a thorough re-regulation and voicing restoration of the instrument. The bulk of this work was completed in March of 1995. More recently the console underwent a complete restoration and the missing saxophone rank was restored to the instrument.
RTOS is a totally independent self-sustaining all-volunteer organization of nearly 800 Family Memberships. RTOS is incorporated as a non-profit educational organization under US and NY State laws and is dedicated to the purpose of preserving and presenting the sound of the “King of Instruments.” In addition to owning the 4/23 Auditorium WurliTzer, RTOS also maintains a 3/12 WurliTzer instrument in the 400 seat Eisenhart Auditorium of the Rochester Museum and Science Center and Don Thompson has also played for an evening of entertainment in that location. Although RTOS operated with an all-volunteer staff, they conduct their activities in a thoroughly professional manner. Attendance at Auditorium varies from approximately 600 to 1200 or so depending upon the season, weather, other activities in town, etc. They believe that an artist will not encounter a warmer or more responsive audience anywhere and this CD clearly proves that. RTOS monthly concerts are mostly free to their members with a modest admission charge to the non-member public. RTOS can be reached at their web site, which is located at http://theatreorgans.com/rochestr/.
Pipe Organ Presentations and Don Thompson wish to thank the society most sincerely for their permission to release this recording.