Restored 1,625-Pipe Pipe Organ to Debut at Parish Church in Italy
A pipe organ with 1,625 pipes: how many it has in total, now fully restored and ready for the inauguration concert scheduled for this evening at 9 PM in the parish church dedicated to Saints Martino and Zeno, directed by maestro Paolo Pachera, from Verona. Pachera has performed in over 200 concerts across various Italian and international cities and at prestigious festivals.
The organist, who teaches at the Dall’Abaco Conservatory in Verona, is also the author of more than a hundred compositions of various genres: chamber music, orchestral works, sacred music, and band music. He has won numerous awards in national and international composition competitions; sixty of his pieces are published by different publishing houses.
The Concert Program
The program includes works by Bach; Donizetti, Bossi, Langlais; as well as a sung intermezzo performed by the Schola Cantorum and the parish’s adolescent choir.
The old 1929 organ, which was completely dismantled four years ago at the start of the restoration work on the parish church, was entrusted to the Silvio Micheli workshop in Castellaro Lagusello for a radical restoration.
The restoration process extended over time as it involved cleaning the bellows, the case which, in its lower part, houses the air supplied by the bellows and transmits it (via pistons) to the pipes of the various ranks located in the upper part.
The same windchest was completely rebuilt, considering the new arrangement of the entire instrument positioned behind the altar in the apse area, and was also enhanced. The electrical system has been renewed, using law-compliant materials; a new walnut console with an adjustable bench was constructed; the keyboards have been restored; a new pedalboard and a new control system for the functions, managed by a computer, have been installed.
Meticulous work was required for the metal pipes, which involved welding, rectification, and restoring the curvature of the slots. Similarly, the wooden pipes were treated with insecticide and protective impregnation.
The wooden choir in walnut was also highlighted, having been advanced from its original position to now serve as the base for the facade pipes, also completing the plinth by personnel with proven experience in antique furniture restoration.
The work was carried out with careful tuning of all stops, followed by the full intonation of the instrument with consistent values. Currently, the renovated organ consists of 864 pipes on the first manual, 623 on the second, and 128 for the pedal: totaling 1,625 pipes.
