If organist Paul Jacobs sounds this good with only one ear, he must have sounded amazing with two.

OK, a little explanation by way of full disclosure is needed. Prior to Mr. Jacobs' recital at Heinz Chapel Sunday, I swam some laps and could not get the water out of my left ear. I've been a swimmer, competitive even at one time, my entire life but never had this happen before. I was bummed.

But I wasn't going to miss the Washington, Pa., native's biggest recital yet in Pittsburgh. It was presented by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as part of its Paris Festival. So I did my best impersonation of Evelyn Glennie and focused on the vibrations -- reverberations, really -- and my right ear. But I can't give much of a serious review because of the situation.

I have poked some fun at the PSO for the trappings of its ongoing Paris Festival. But it was a brilliant move to complement the orchestral and choral music at Heinz Hall with organ music of the period. There was such a vibrant performing and compositional pipe organ scene in France leading to some of the masterpieces of the genre. Mr. Jacobs' program reflected this with some of the titans of the field: Maurice Durufle, Louis Vierne, Oliver Messiaen, Jeanne Demessieux and Nadia Boulanger.

Let me step back again briefly. Were Mr. Jacobs "simply" a prodigious talent who built a top solo career starting with his training in Western Pennsylvania, we would be justly celebrating him. Remember the heady young man who in 2000 performed the complete organ works of J.S. Bach in one 18-hour sitting in Westminster Presbyterian Church Upper St. Clair? He has the gift.

But in the last 10 years Mr. Jacobs has become more than that. Appointed chairman of the organ department at the Juilliard School in 2004, he is a pipe organ advocate as much as a performer.

That shined in his sold-out performance Sunday. He spoke eloquently about the music he performed, inviting the audience into this world. Mr. Jacobs is the only artist I have ever seen who says, "We are now going to hear a work," instead of, "I am going to play a work for you" or "you are about to hear a work." It is almost as if he, too, was eager to listen to the music, as if he is so touched by the muse that he was marveling at the music, and his playing, as we were.

After talking about the program, the fingers and feet did the rest. It was hot in Heinz Chapel, I had no sightline to him and I had just one ear, but Mr. Jacobs' phrasing did not fail to impress.

I've heard many organists handle those wild moments when three or four separate parts are happening simultaneously. But I haven't heard too many do that as musically as when Mr. Jacobs gracefully played the melody of the Sicilienne from Durufle's Suite, Op. 5, while the other hand flew up and down the manual in fast scales and his feet walked a completely different rhythm.

In general, Mr. Jacobs kept the line of the music taut from beginning to end, such as in Vierne's Berceuse from his "24 Pieces in Free Style." His lovely, ever-so-exaggerated interpretations of Messiaen's colorful short movements such as "Le Dieu cache" and "Dieu parmi nous" were magnificent. As best I could tell, the splendid organ of Heinz Chapel was, well, splendid. But the afternoon was just another sign of what a special artist -- and leader -- Mr. Jacobs has become.

First Published: May 7, 2012, 7:15 p.m.