Brighton Dome
Concert Hall * Corn Exchange
* Pavilion Theatre
Ticket Office: 01273 709709
Online booking
and audio clips: www.brighton-dome.org.uk
PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE 27 JAN 2006
Brighton Dome Organ
Restored to Full Glory
Following
seven years painstaking restoration work, the famous organ of Brighton
Dome's Concert Hall has returned home 70 years after its first
performance in 1936. The organ's impressive sound will have its first
official outing as part of the final concert in the Brighton Philharmonic
Orchestra's current
season, on Sunday 2 April 2006.
Local organ expert Michael Maine championed the Dome
organ's restoration, and acted as principal consultant on the project.
Michael will join the BPO in Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia
Antartica, which features a spectacular organ solo in the 'Landscape' movement, in which
the instrument is used to conjure up the image of massive icebergs breaking off
from a glacier and crashing to the ice below.
The organ is an impressive example of the work of Wm Hill
& Son, creators of the 'Christie' cinema organs of the 1930s.
Restored to its full glory with four manuals, almost 300 stops and over 3,000
pipes, the organ can create a full orchestra effect, as well as a number of unusual
sound effects including bird whistle, sleigh bells and xylophone.
Refurbishment of the Organ was undertaken by David Wells
Organ Builders of Liverpool who are one of the country's leading organ
restorers and have been working on the project since 1999. David Wells said:
"This is probably the most
complex organ in the country, re-building it has been a major job and we are
delighted that it is now complete."
Nick Dodds, Chief Executive Brighton Dome and Festival said:
"We are very proud that the
unique Brighton Dome organ, a special piece of theatre history, has now been
fully restored and we look forward to hearing its wonderful sound at this and
many future concerts."
The instrument became famous through the many broadcasts of
Douglas Reeve in the heydays of the BBC Light Programme. His twice-weekly
summer series of organ concerts ("Pack up Your Troubles") attracted
capacity audiences. He also inaugurated just after the 2nd World War the weekly
"Tuesday at the Dome" variety shows (1/- and 1/6d seats) which were
given an entry in the GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS as the longest running seaside
variety show in the world.
Future performances featuring the Dome organ will include
Kodaly's jubilant Missa Brevis
and John Tavener's haunting Veil of
the Temple, as part of this May's 40th Brighton
Festival. Future organ recitals are planned, and the BPO will test the full
power of the organ in Saint-Saëns' 'Organ Symphony' in February 2007.
For
full listings, press tickets, photos or any other information, please
contact
Penny Sims
on 01273 260 826 or penny.sims@brighton-dome.org.uk
Editors notes:
- Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
2nd
April 2006
2.45pm
Tickets £6 - £22.50
Barry Wordsworth Conductor
Howard Shelley Piano
Elizabeth Watts Soprano
Ladies of the Brighton Festival Chorus
Britten Four Sea
Interludes from Peter Grimes
Foulds Dynamic Triptych (for
piano and orchestra)
Vaughan Williams Symphony
No.7 'Sinfonia Antartica'
1.45pm 'Behind the Notes'
pre-concert interview with Peter Back and Howard Shelley (tickets £2.50)
- The
Brighton Dome was originally built in 1803 as the stables for Prince
Regents seaside palace, The Royal Pavilion. The room which is now the
Concert Hall, which features the central dome or cupola, previously
provided stabling for 44 horses and accommodation for grooms and servants.
- In
1850 the Dome was converted into a concert hall, which included a 4 manual
Father Willis organ. The instrument was taken out and parts used on
various church projects when the building was re-designed in 1935.
- In
1935 the hall was completely re-designed in the popular "art
deco" style and the concert organ installed in 1936. It was designed
by Dr Stanley Roper (Organist of HM Chapel Royal, London),
Quentin MacLean (famous cinema organist of the Trocadero, Elephant and
Castle), and Brighton Borough Organist at the time, Dr. Alfred Abdey
- The
restoration of the organ completes the major refurbishment project of
Brighton Dome which re-opened in March 2002, partly funded by the National
Lottery, and was last year nominated for Best Lottery Funded project in
the South East.
- Michael
Maine is a Cornishman by birth and as a boy was a choral scholar at Truro
Cathedral. Inspired by the Father Willis organ there, he studied with the
organist John Winter. Michael moved to Brighton in the late 1970s and last
year celebrated twenty five years as the Organist and Director of Music at
Hove Parish Church (All Saints) where he is fortunate to preside over the
great 1905 Hill organ, one of the finest instruments of its period
surviving. He is also Head of Lower School and Director of Music at St.
Christopher's School, Hove, the choirs of which have
performed on BBC1 and Radio 4. Michael is also the co-owner of the theatre
organ in Portslade Town Hall which he has frequently broadcast on Radio 2.
In addition, he has also overseen the restoration of the Dome organ, which
he was to a large part responsible in ensuring this important piece
of theatre history was refurbished for future generations to enjoy.
- The
Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) was founded in 1925, is the city's
only professional symphony orchestra, and has given an annual concert
season in the Brighton Dome since 1928. Barry Wordsworth has been the BPO's
Principal Conductor since 1989. The BPO's current season consists of 14
concerts across three venues, from September 2005 to April 2006. www.brightonphil.org.uk
Penny
Sims
Press
Officer
Brighton
Dome & Festival
01273
260 826
www.brighton-dome.org.uk
