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Pittsburgh Area Theatre Organ Society, Inc. |
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Concert Reviews |
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HECTOR OLIVERA’S TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO PITTSBURGH By MaryJane Wolf On Sept. 4, 2010 Hector Olivera returned to the Keystone Oaks stage after a too-long absence. As a long-time fan of Hector, this review is not going to be just a litany of what he played, but also my thoughts and feelings during the concert. The uniqueness of this concert was that there were three organs on stage, Hector’s custom built Rodgers Touring Organ, the Roland Atelier on which Hector has done many recordings and the PATOS WuriTzer pipe organ. To some this variety of instruments could have been a challenge, but not to Hector. The first half of the concert was played on the Rodgers Touring Organ. I first heard this organ at its premiere performance in New York City, but enjoyed it even more at Keystone Oaks. It was wonderful to hear so many of my favorite compositions like Jesu Joy, of Man’s Desiring, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Vierne’s Scherzo, Widor’s Toccata and Londonderry Air. If Hector had asked me to choose what I wanted to hear for the first half of the concert, I would have made no changes in his selections. When Hector was younger he liked to see how fast he could play certain pieces, including the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and the Widor Toccata. Now there is a maturity to his playing, the tempo has slowed and his articulation is even better than before. In his on-stage comments Hector even mentioned the speed at which he used to play. Although I have memories of the young artist playing at a frenzied pace which amazed us all, I found his more reserved tempos to inspire me even more. I was very sorry to see intermission come because the Rodgers organ is one of my favorite electronic instruments. The second half of the program to a large extent was done on the Roland Atelier. The word atelier means artist’s workshop and as I listened I could envision Hector in his workshop creating beautiful music. The Atelier is a perfect medium for Hector who has always thought orchestral. The myriad of instrumental sounds available on this instrument seem endless. When Hector was playing a drum solo I was transported back to the days at Conley’s many years ago where he played a Hammond X-66 augmented with a toy counter. We were amazed at what he played then, but in retrospect it is nothing compared to what he can perform with the Roland instrument. I particularly enjoyed Hector’s rendition of Rhapsody in Blue in which he used soaring strings and solo piano. Hector had a great segue from the Atelier to the WurliTzer. He had prerecorded Moonlight Serenade on the Atelier. Using the playback feature of the instrument he was then able to hop over to the PATOS organ and play along. The two organs meshed together beautifully. Then it was time to hear some “pure” theatre organ as Hector played the Teddy Bears Picnic on the PATOS Wurlitzer using all its bells and whistles. It was truly a nostalgic piece for any of us who remember (and possibly still have) Hector‘s early vinyl recordings. My only disappointment in the entire concert was that Hector’s signature piece, Flight of the Bumblebee was not included in the program. But its absence didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the afternoon. Those of us who knew Hector when he lived in Pittsburgh are now quite a bit older, many of us have graying hair and thickening waists, but our enthusiasm for his playing has not dimmed. It was nice to see some younger people in the audience appreciating his talent and enjoying his music. Thank you, Hector, for returning to PATOS and for a beautiful and memorable concert. Email comments received - WOW ---What a great concert ! ! ! !---It is very difficult to rate classical organists because the music has to be played almost the same --not too much improvisation permitted but that Roland almost stole the show. The Mighty Wurli still sounds great even though he played just those couple numbers but I know he wanted to give the other two a good workout... Wayne -We enjoyed the wonderful concert by Hector Olivera. Thank-you for the opportunity to be a part of these performances... Bob and Ruth ...While I had a lot of stuff planned for my weekend I was glad that I took the time to come. I enjoyed the different instruments, however I have to confess that I preferred either the Rodgers or Wurlitzer versus the other one. While it was really great that Hector explained how the synthesizer worked and nice to hear, I’d rather have just heard an actual orchestra or more of the Wurlitzer or Rodgers. Note – that when he played the encore folks chose the Wurlitzer; there is always a plus for real pipe sound, regardless of the voicing or style!…..Jon -Dear Staff: Well, what a program on Saturday, Sept. 4th. I am sure you have had many compliments on it!....Thank you so much… Jim -I just returned from the Hector Olivera concert on September 4. What a concert!! Just about the most enjoyable time I've had in quite a while. Thanks to you folks who put this together...Steve -I’m well past 90 years of age and have attended many a musical program in my lifetime. I can say that I have never attended a more exciting and entertaining program. The music stayed with me for several days afterward...Mort -What a wonderful concert this was, He played all 3 organs beautifully and gave them all quite a workout….Dave |
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Hector Olivera — Pictured below is Hector playing the PATOS Wurlitzer during his September 4, 2010 concert and flanked by his Roland Atelier and Rodgers Classical touring organs. The picture was taken during the performance of Moonlight Serenade during which both the Roland Atelier and the PATOS WurliTzer were used simultaneously with the Atelier playing the orchestral part pre-recorded by Hector during rehearsal. |