Olivier Latry MIDNIGHT AT NOTRE-DAME

While Paris slept,’ reads the blurb, ‘Notre-Dame’s organist Olivier Latry recorded this musical celebration of well-known classics.’ Indeed, the absence of extraneous traffic noise, and the just-perceptible whisper of wind under pressure, ensure that the cathedral’s instrument is heard in ideal circumstances. The programme (recorded in late 2003) pays homage to the skills of a predominantly French group of transcribers. The exception is Liszt’s ponderous treatment of his future son-in-law’s Pilgrims’ Chorus. 

Dupré’s and Messerer’s Bach movements make excellent and invigorating bookends to this slightly uneven hour’s worth of music. Guillou’s transcription of Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue is a highlight: every contrapuntal detail of one of Mozart’s best fugues shines brilliantly. And Guillou’s virtuoso ‘colouring in’ of Prokofiev’s motoric Toccata takes one’s breath away. The en chamade reeds are used to wonderful effect. Resist the temptation to lower the volume level beforehand! Equally successful is Vierne’s transcription of Rachmaninov’s infamous Prelude in C sharp minor. It shouldn’t work on the organ, but it does. All that is missing from the luxurious tonal palette are distant chimes. 

Sizzling sounds abound, too, in Berlioz’s ebullient Hungarian March, though Latry applies a tad too much rubato at times (a complaint levelled at organists the world over) and the requisite rhythmic spring suffers. The two remaining tracks are of Duruflé’s nondescript transcriptions of Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring and Mortify Us. The former is taken too slowly and Latry makes a slightly labourious job of the latter. 

These criticisms apart, the engineers have done a magnificent job in capturing the soul of this Romantic, symphonic organ. Latry’s mastery of both instrument and repertoire is undeniable. I recommend it to even those who have an aversion to organ discs or transcriptions. For those with an SACD player the aural experience will be overpowering. (Malcolm Riley / Gramophone)