display
Hamburg (dpa) - After a general cleaning and re-intoning, the organ of the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie shines in new splendor.
“I had completely forgotten how exciting it is,” said organ builder Philipp Klais in Hamburg on Friday after titular organist Iveta Apkalna played Johann Sebastian Bach's “Toccata and Fugue in D minor”.
More than 4,700 pipes - the shortest made of tin measures eleven millimeters, the longest made of wood ten meters - the organ builders cleaned for several weeks and then put them back in place.
The cleaning planned for the summer had been brought forward because of the corona pandemic.
This gave the organ builders enough time for their work.
"I can already hear the difference because I know the character of each register," said Apkalna.
Something was readjusted on five of the 69 registers.
«This organ has an incredible amount of character.
I enjoy that, but it's not easy, ”said the multi-award-winning Latvian who plays organs all over the world.
The organ of the Elbphilharmonie extends over an area of 15 by 15 meters.
Only a small part of it can be seen by visitors - the rest disappears behind the wall cladding of the concert hall.
“The organ of the Elbphilharmonie is a success story, but it wasn't even planned in the beginning,” said Artistic Director Christoph Lieben-Seutter.
Only a million donation from patron Peter Möhrle made the construction of the imposing instrument possible.
display
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210326-99-985901 / 2
Elbphilharmonie
The organ at Klais