Cameron Carpenter is the provocative bird of paradise among contemporary organists. He combines entertainment with virtuosity, as Liberace and Virgil Fox did. His charisma is more that of a rock star than that of the average 'bourgeois' organist. Yet in his own way Cameron Carpenter also tries to connect with tradition. His International Touring Organ is a mix of various pipe organs, but then
… digitally stored and equipped with all modern conveniences. No wonder Cameron Carpenter does not always succeed in finding a balance between all these extremes. Sometimes the result is simply stale and mannerist. Here, however, sounds a fine arrangement of the Romantic (second) symphony by Howard Hanson. Some organ lovers will be spooked by it. Yet it is, in its way, beautifully controlled organ playing, switching between the most diverse timbres in fractions of seconds. (HJ)more
