With this third volume, Danish organist Bine Bryndorf continues her ambitious project to record Dietrich Buxtehude’s complete organ works for Dacapo. Unlike the first two well-received programs (type Q7355 and Q7784 in Search Reviews) where Bryndorf performed on the renowned “Great Buxtehude Organ” at St. Mary’s church in Elsinore Denmark, this time she opts for a more modest-sized, recently constructed instrument built by Robert Gustavsson and associates for St. Mary’s Church in Helsingborg, Sweden–an organ arguably better suited to Bryndorf’s overall interpretive and stylistic approach. For instance, her tendency to emphasize the chromatic and melodic potential of the works is more easily facilitated and fully realized in this more intimate setting. The chorale preludes “sing” with greater clarity, while the often wild freestyle nature of the four Praeludia, while viscerally suffering somewhat compared to those heard on her earlier volumes, here sound more texturally detailed and chromatically varied. Her stirring conclusion to the first Praeludium in G minor is particularly ravishing.
Unfortunately, there are moments where Bryndorf–perhaps in an admirable effort to more fully explore the beauty and complexity of these gems–becomes overly precious. Her performances of Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BuxWV 184 and Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt BuxWV 183 seem unnecessarily slow compared with the equally evocative, more judiciously-paced accounts by Michel Chapuis (Valois). However, these instances are few and detract little from Bryndorf’s otherwise excellent achievement.
