Bach to Notre-Dame Olivier Latry

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079:
• 1 Bach: Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079: Ricercare a 6 09:36
• Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578:
• 2 Bach: Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578 04:44
• Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565:
• 3 Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 10:07
• Erbarm’ dich mein, o Herre Gott, BWV 721:
• 4 Bach: Erbarm’ dich mein, o Herre Gott, BWV 721 06:31
• Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542:
• 5 Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542: No. 1, Fantasia 07:16
• 6 Bach: Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542: No. 2, Fugue 06:40
• In dir ist Freude, BWV 615:
• 7 Bach: In dir ist Freude, BWV 615 03:23
• Herzlich tut mich verlangen, BWV 727:
• 8 Bach: Herzlich tut mich verlangen, BWV 727 04:08
• Fantasia in G Major, BWV 572:
• 9 Bach: Fantasia in G Major, BWV 572 10:19
• Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582:
• 10 Bach: Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 14:44
• Total Runtime 01:17:28

Info for Bach to Notre-Dame

For his first recording and album with La Dolce Volta, Olivier Latry has chosen a programme devoted to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. This recording, made on the massive Cavaille-Coll organ of Notre-Dame de Paris, of which he is titular organist, raises a number of fascinating questions.

'My approach highlights several paradoxes: the notion of performing these key works of Protestantism in one of the most emblematic centres of Catholicism, first of all, but also of playing them on an instrument that is, to say the least, far removed from the Baroque and Classical style of organ building. It's quite true, all of this raises questions.

'However, the most important question remains, in my opinion, that of authenticity in music. I must confess that this concept often seems to me to be a decoy . . . Playing Bach in this context therefore implies finding a new balance in order to preserve the spirit and letter of music. One cannot be divorced from the other.

'Every performer plays with the instruments of his or her time, and the instrument I have here at Notre-Dame is an outstanding one. One cannot and must not fight against the past, but on the contrary assimilate it, the better to derive inspiration from it and then find one's personal path. We shouldn't really be talking about authenticity at all, but, more soberly, about sincerity.'

Over five years since the fire on April 15, 2019, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris will reopen to the public in December 2024. The images of the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the capital's architectural symbols, have been seen around the world. More than five years after the disaster, thanks to the expertise of several hundred passionate craftsmen and architects, the building has been reborn and is ready to welcome the public back on December 8, 2024. Visitors to Paris during the Olympic and Paralympic Games have already been able to admire Viollet-le-Duc's iconic spire, whose reconstruction was completed in February. The roofs of the nave and choir will also be completely restored over the coming months. Inside, work continues on cleaning the walls, stained glass windows and vaults, not forgetting the 8,000-pipe organ, as well as restoring the black-and-white checkerboard floors. In anticipation of the reopening festivities, you can go behind the scenes of this landmark building by rediscovering the last recording made on its great organ performed by Olivier Latry in a specially remastered version. The event will be broadcast worldwide, and the re-release of this album will be one of the highlights of the year.

Olivier Latry, organ

Olivier Latry
Established as the leading worldwide ambassador for his instrument, French organist Olivier Latry has performed the world’s most prestigious venues, been the guest of leading orchestras under renowned conductors, recorded for major labels and premiered an impressive number of works. Named titular organist at Notre-Dame in Paris at the age of 23 and organist Emeritus at the Orchestre National de Montréal since 2012, Olivier Latry is first and foremost an accomplished, thoughtful and adventurous musician exploring all possible fields of the organ music, with an exceptional talent as an improviser.

Olivier Latry regularly appears in venues like the Philharmonie de Paris, Disney Hall, San Francisco’s Davies Hall, Concertgebouw, Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall, Gewandhaus, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Budapest’s Palace of Arts, Royal Festival Hall, KKL Lucerne, Royal Albert Hall, Suntory Hall, Mariinsky, Rotterdam’s de Doelen and as a soloist with leading orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, RSO Wien, Hong-Kong Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre National de France, under conductors like Myung-Whun Chung, Andris Nelsons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Stéphane Denève, Fabien Gabel, Christoph Eschenbach, Kent Nagano, Edo de Waart, Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

Recent highlights include the premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Maan Varjot for organ and orchestra with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre National de Lyon and Philharmonia Orchestra in 2014, the premiere of Michael Gandolfi’s concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2015. He will premiere Benoît Mernier’s organ concerto for the inauguration of Brussels’ Palais des Beaux-Arts’s new organ in 2017. In 2016 he will record a recital program for Warner Music at the Philharmonie de Paris’s magnificent Rieger organ which he inaugurated earlier in the year. He took a major part in the inauguration of the Radio France Auditorium’s Grenzing organ in May 2016 too. In the 2017/2018 season he will be artist in residence with the Dresdner Philharmonie.

His strong attachment to the French organ repertoire led him to record Olivier Messiaen’s complete works for organ for Deutsche Grammophon which he also performed in recitals in Paris, London and New York. In 2005, he recorded a César Franck album also for Deutsche Grammophon. Among several other recordings, Olivier also recorded Saint-Saëns organ concerto with Christoph Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra for Ondine. His most recent recording on the Naïve label is entitled “Trois Siècles d’Orgue Notre-Dame de Paris” which features music composed by past and current organists of Notre-Dame Cathedral.

A former student of Gaston Litaize, Olivier Latry now teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and is a recipient of numerous international distinctions and awards worldwide including the Prix de la Fondation Cino et Simone Del Duca (Institut de France–Académie des Beaux-Arts) in 2000, and “Honoris Causa” Fellowships from the North and Midlands School of Music (UK) in 2006, and from the Royal College of Organists (UK) in 2007. He was also named International Performer of the Year by the American Guild of Organists in April 2009, and received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from McGill University in Montreal Canada in 2010.

This album contains no booklet.