Acclaim

George Thalben-Ball’s Variations on a theme of Paganini for pedal solo [...] are a genuine tour de force for the feet, and served to show off not only Korndörfer’s remarkable pedal technique but also the unusual “Pedal Divide” capability – just one of the state-of-the-art special pistons and features of the organ’s 2018 Klais/Schlueter upgrade.
The “Pedal Divide” was notably used in the Variations. It allowed Korndörfer to play a bass line in one registration with his left foot, while using another registration for the upper half of the pedalboard where he played a melodic part in parallel thirds with his right foot alone. Not all organists can do the latter, as it requires a certain flexibility of the organist’s ankles to make it possible to play thirds involving two “white keys.”
Given that organ pedal technique treats the two feet like a single four-fingered hand, it’s not surprising that Korndörfer was also able to play a four-part chorale passage with feet alone.

Jens Korndoerfer [had been chosen] to open the Heidenreich-Festival – an excellent choice; an exceptional beginning […]

All of this, as impressive as it is performed, was nothing but an introduction […] to Liszt’s Fantasy, which the artist mastered with bravery and intoxicating temperamental changes. He combined his impressive mastery of the keyboard with a thorough knowledge of alternating and overlapping layers of expression. From dark depths, he let the music rise majestically, then brightened it up, and internalized it again. He contrasted this soliloquy with the pagentry of a parade, the admonishing sermon with the sweetness of enchanted psalm-singing, and – in the sharp rhythms of the fugue – with jagged military preciseness.

Just as he relocated Rachmaninov’s Prelude in c sharp minor from the salon to the church, he seemed to urge Liszt’s symphonic organ poetry from the house of God into the theatre. Indeed, the theme is a hymn from Meyerbeers ‘Le Prophète’ - and Jens Korndörfer at the console of the Heidenreich-organ turned into the conductor of a grand opera.

Der Amerikaner, der sonst in Paris oder London auftritt, zeigt, was eine Orgel alles leisten kann. [...]

Die abschließenden „Variations on America“ des amerikanischen Komponisten Charles Ives [...] präsentierte Jens Korndörfer [...] so leichtfüßig, und hintergründig witzig, dass man es durchaus als Satire auf die aktuellen Zustände „on America“ verstehen konnte. Großer Applaus zum Schluss und eine Zugabe zum nochmaligen Zunge schnalzen: „Carillon de Westminster“, wieder von Komponist Louis Vierne und wieder meisterhaft dargeboten von einem Organisten, an den man sich in St. Georg noch lange erinnern wird.

Glorious performance by a star of the organ from Montreal… The public…was transfixed by the master’s grandiose art… Young and old were visibly fascinated by the modest artist’s performance in Stadthagen.

Korndoerfer is a thoroughly convincing performer: his technique is accomplished, and at the same time he is sensitive and brilliant. This is organ music as a real treat – and it resonates far beyond the concert.

In this concert, everybody got one’s money worth, for in his musical journey from Bach to Messiaen, Korndoerfer covered the most diverse compositions and styles…

In the last work of the evening, Korndoerfer could once again display his entire skills. Sergei Prokofiev’s Toccata op. 11 in an arrangement by Jean Guillou requires a perfectly polished technique and a high-speed motion sequence for hands and feet, which Korndoerfer mastered to the highest degree.