Today’s New York Times has a review of the big concert in Philadelphia over the weekend celebrating Macy’s 150th birthday and the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and Wanamaker organist Peter Richard Conte. The big news was Joseph Jongen’s “Symphonie Concertante” for organ and orchestra in its first performance on the organ (and in the space) for which it was originally intended.
Peter Richard Conte and others (including Virgil Fox) have recorded on the Wanamaker organ, but you really have to be there to get a sense of its power and how it fills the whole store. It’s played every business day by a whole staff of resident organists. If you’re ever in Philly, it’s a tourist destination not to be missed.