A queue at the Caird Hall box office, a delayed start and an audience of over 500? For an organ recital?
Well, this wasn’t any old organ recital it was by the one and only Carlo Curley, organist extraordinaire, showman and charismatic champion of the pipe organ.
The Friends Of The Caird Hall Organ’s decision to employ him on Tuesday night for their first major recital was an inspired one. No-one else has got nearly the same pulling power.
Curley is one of the few with a very close personal association with the organ. He was one of the leading campaigners for its restoration and gave the last recital of the old and the first of the new after its renovation in 1991.
And so it wasn’t all about the music, but about Curley’s interpretation of it and the contrasts that ensued.
A perfect illustration of this was his superb arrangement of Wagner’s Liebestod, which was quite beautiful, and at the other end of the spectrum his Scott Joplin Entertainer encore a fitting signature tune for Curley the crowd-pleaser.
He took special care in emphasising the vast range of sound the instrument can deliver, and his parting comment to the Caird Hall audience was, “You are blessed with one of the most sensational organs on the planet!”
Quite a tribute from a man who has played the very best of them.