Posted on 02/25/2022 7:58:32 AM PST by devane617
There are few pipe organs in the world that have a nickname, a feminine pronoun and a Facebook fan page.
The Hazel Wright organ — just “Hazel,” to her admirers — was removed piece by piece in 2013 from Christ Cathedral’s shimmering sanctuary in Southern California’s Orange County, and shipped to Italy for repair. At the time, the fifth-largest pipe organ in the world was suffering from an infestation of bugs. Its pipes were melted, its trumpets corroded.
Nearly a decade and $3 million later, Hazel is back in the fully remodeled sanctuary, and heavenly chords from her pipes once again ring out in the vaulted nave of the iconic church.
“It was amazing to see people’s reactions to this powerful instrument,” said David La’O Ball, a Juilliard-trained organist and head of music ministry at Christ Cathedral, where Hazel was played for the public for the first time this month during a Mass on World Marriage Day. “Their eyes widened, and they were turning their heads from side to side to see where these sounds were coming from. You can really feel its visceral power with every note.”
The organ “is huge, but also very intimate,” Ball said.
(Excerpt) Read more at mypanhandle.com ...
The article is stingy on photographs. Only one.
I'm not sayin' nuthin...
J.S. Bach had 15 kids, so...The Great Organ Works.
Give me E Power Biggs, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on the right pipe organ, and about 2500 watts of real stereo ... and I am a happy man.
You do indeed FEEL the music from a pipe organ played well.
This should be featured on a pipedreams.org show.
My mother used to play that on her pipe organ in the basement. It was my father’s favorite. Loved it, but there was a Purcell she played I loved even more. This is outrageously, slap one in the face, prophetic. Monsters, Inc. Just saying.
Who is the preacher there now?
I googled it and I see that it appears to be the son.
Good grief, did you blow up up the block when you jacked up your stereo or did you just rattle the windows?
(E. Power Biggs is magnificent with 2500 watts.)
Basement man cave with acoustic insulation in walls and ceiling.
Powered subwoofer too ;-)
Was built as a movie room with a 10’ diag projected image and sound that would knock your clothes off (movie reference).
When I was in college at Fresno there was a place called “Pizza and Pipes” that had “The Mighty Wurlitzer” pipe organ. A great place to get some cheap pizza and have a few pitchers of beer with the friends. Old article. file:///C:/Users/alohacnc/AppData/Local/Temp/3139-Article%20Text-3114-1-2-20190508.pdf
I believe the Catholic Church now owns the old Crystal Cathedral. Robert Schuller’s son must preach somewhere else now.
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