A Very LARGE Organ!

Yes it is true. The Mistress went to see the world's largest organ yesterday to enjoys it's magic and share it with some friends also. I just love large things! Now get your mind out of the gutter, it was the Wanamaker Organ of course! They were having their yearly concert yesterday, and I went with my good friends, The Capital Street Duo to heat it, and first as tradition, we had to go have cock-a-tails first. And what a better place to go then to my favorite Cuban/Colombian joint Mixto.




While there we ogled the hot boys and waiters and enjoyed some refreshing pomegranate mojitos. As you can see they have quite the list of mojitos. And are they delish. We went and had two pitchers of them and my good friend Dame Courtney had a peach sangria which was also very refreshing. After some nibbles and a very nice buzz it was onto The Wanamaker Building, now Macy's, for the Organ Concert.

As always this years concert was free to the public and it opened at 10am with KEN COWAN. PETER RICHARD CONTE and special guests were featured in a concert at 11:30 that was broadcast live on Jill Pasternak's "Crossover" on public radio. Capping the day on the Wanamaker Organ at 5pm was the Grand Closing Concert with PETER RICHARD CONTE, the Philadelphia Brass, and added Brass Chorus and Tympani in a Sonic Spectacular! Wall shaking performances I say! I do like the sound of the organ, but the shows were just long enough to experience one of these shows. A little organ goes a long way, in some cases! But it was a wonderful day with good friends! The organ was built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the Wanamaker Organ was designed by renowned organ architect George Ashdown Audsley, author of The Art of Organ-Building. This heroic instrument had more than 10,000 pipes, and its construction was on such a lavish scale that costs soared to $105,000,bankrupting the builder. In 1909, Philadelphia merchant-prince John Wanamaker bought the instrument for his new Philadelphia emporium. Thirteen freight cars were required to ship the entire organ from St. Louis, and installation took two years. The Grand Organ was first heard in the Store's seven-story atrium on June 22, 1911, at the exact moment when England's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Now a National Historic Landmark and valued in excess of $57 million, the Wanamaker Organ is of the American Symphonic design, which can play the great organ masterworks as well as the entire range of orchestral literature. What a marvel to look at!