Janette
Fishell
Press Notices
Organ
ChicAGO 2006:
review
Janette Fishell’s
recital was one of the highlights of the week as she ended with a magnificent
performance of Litaize’s Prélude et Danse fuguée and included a virtuosic pedal solo in the
commissioned work by Frank Ferko. She also included works by Bach, Eben and Alain. The
instrument sounded magnificent despite its difficult console.
The American Organist, October, 2006
Review of the AGO National Convention 2006,
On Tuesday, we heard one of the lovely ladies of
the organ world. Janette Fishell, a
mature musician, plays with great sensitivity and strong, secure
technique. The 1989 Flentrop
(IV/117), the builder’s largest mechnical-action
organ in the
The program, entitled “Music that Moves – Dances
and Aires for Organ,” opened with Petr Eben’s Homage to Buxtehude, a witty parody on Buxtehude’s
Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne in C. Its
urgent, driving rhythms and dissonances seem to express the composer’s strong
convictions and beliefs. Ms. Fishell’s reading was most convincing. Two Leipzig Chorale settings of “Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei
Ehr’” (BWV 662 and 664) displayed the beautiful
cornet and foundation stops. The trio
setting was full of energy and colorful sounds.
These were engaging works for an appreciative audience.
The commissioned piece was Frank Ferko’s Livre d’Orgue. The five short movements seemed to go by
quickly. The Intrada
served as an exposition for the entire set.
The Basse de trompette
brought smiles all around with its growly reed and
calliope-like accompaniment. The fugal
section, entitled “In Time of Warm,” was a personal favorite. its descriptive
moods effectively described the conflict and confusion, as well as death and
sadness. Perhaps this movement could
have been placed before the final chorale, “In Time of Peace.” The Tango for
Feet was a tour de force for the performer.
The Alain Postlude pour
l’Office de Complies was a welcome offering. Well chosen for this instrument and setting,
it captured an atmosphere of serenity and peace of mind – the perfect ending
for a Compline service. The Prélude et Danse fuguée, Litaize’s most famous piece to American audiences,
successfully combines and contrasts the
free, improvisatory style of jazz with the structural boundaries of composed
music. Ms. Fishell’s
rock-solid rhythmic drive allowed the fugue to both dance and sing! Thanks to the lovely lady, we heard a program
of organ music that moved, danced, and delivered great “aires.”
Classical Voice of
“Inauguration
of Fisk Organ in
A full house was on hand November 6 to hear the
second of two identical inaugural concerts on the new Fisk organ, opus 126, at
“Janette
Fishell ‘wows’ the audience at April Recital”
OK, it was a beautiful day, a day when you
probably could have done something other than sit in a hot church. But if you missed the concert, sponsored by
our chapter, featuring Janette Fishell on April 10, you really missed a
remarkable event. She was a performer in
the best sense of the word, displaying a technique and facility at the organ
that was amazing, making incredible music in some extremely difficult works. The manual changes in the Eben
looked easy when she played them. Her
performance of Danse Macabre was a real tour de force, and Vierne’s Clair de Lune was lyrical and lush.
Her workshop on the music of Petr
Eben the previous day was remarkable, too. She knows this man personally, can talk in an
engaging manner about his remarkable life.
. . Such a great artist . . .
Such a wonderful program!
News & Record,
“Sisters
present unusual, stirring performances”
The Music
for a Great Space series has a fine unpredictability about it. Often its performers are
Organist Janette Fishell was joined Friday in
her program by her sister, Julie, an accomplished performer, in a words and
music offering of Czech composer Petr Eben’s “Faust for organ.” It was a happy blending of talents. Janette Fishell teaches at
. . . Since Janette Fishell offered the idea of
saying her final French work was a kind of Gallic soufflé to follow some heavy
German and Czech pieces, it wouldn’t be amiss to call her a good cook. The blend may have been unusual, but it was
also tasty. The Felix Mendelssohn fourth
sonata opened the program, followed by the organ chorale, “Allein
Gott in der Höh sei Ehr,” and then the
famous, and infamously difficult, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, the piece that
tests both the organ and the organist.
This heard-at-Halloween piece received a strong and effective performance
from Fishell. . . (it)
showed her at the peak of her form.
The concluding selections from Vierne’s third symphony did indeed offer a sharp contrast
and again, Fishell played with understanding and style. . . (It was) one of the most innovative performances
in the series’ six-year history.
The New Music Festival weekend was a polished
event. From Ms. Fishell’s
dynamic performance on Saturday night to the members’ recital on Sunday, it was
top notch all the way. Ms. Fishell was
as stunning and refined to look at as she was to hear.
The
American Organist,
September, 1998 (review of recitals given at the 1998 National Convention of
the American Guild of Organists in
The husband-wife duo Janette Fishell and Colin
Andrews presented a program that was varied and appealing. Dr. Fishell’s
transcriptions of several orchestral movements provided the beginning, middle,
and ending of the program. . . For this team to have succeeded so admirably in
creating very workable orchestral registrations on such a modest-sized
instrument is notable. . . The team demonstrated an exceptional sense of
ensemble. Their accents sounded
appropriately orchestra, not
Newsletter of the Sydney
Organ Association,
Fall/Winter, 2004
Another stunning recital at
“Organ
Recital Remarkable”
The programme was exciting, innovative and must
have been revelatory even for the specialist.
Janette Fishell explored Continental music, with two pieces by
contemporary Czech, Petr Eben,
scintillating in their sharpness and their brilliantly original sound
world. Fishell is a leading authority on
Eben: nothing
could better her command and in the second work, from Job, the playing developed a fiery, shouting, defiant energy. And since no such recital could be complete
without something from the French school, it was two movements from the
Franck/Widor-influenced Louis Vierne. It
moved from beautifully registered, poetic passages to a surging finale of
pulsing pedal scales and massive piling up of rhetorical ecstasy.
American Record Guide, March/April, 1996:
Eben: Organ Anthology
. . . Fishell has done an invaluable service to Eben and new listeners by presenting this short
sampler. Her performance is first-rate;
she has an intrinsic feel for Eben’s music and an
obvious joy in performing it. Her use of
the Casavant organ of
Music Teachers.Co.UK
Online Journal,
September, 2001
Review
of Marcel Dupré Complete Organ Works, Vol. 4
The B Major (Prelude and Fugue, Opus 7, No. 1)
is handled with great panache . . . I am impressed with the greater degree of
clarity in (Fishell’s) performance. Similarly, her reading of the F minor
(Prelude and Fugue, Opus 7, No. 2) provides a greater sense of space in the
prelude. . . a greater degree of clarity is also achieved in her reading of the
G Minor Prelude and Fugue (Opus 7, No. 3).
Amazon.com reviews of
But What Do I Do With My
Feet? The Pianist’s Guide to the Organ
5 stars out of 5: Of course, it isn’t a substitute for proper lessons
from a qualified organ teacher, nor is it a complete “method” . . . however,
for a pianist who is dragooned into service as an
4 stars out of 5: Very helpful. This book made it quick and
easy for me to learn.