ORGAN MUSIC, EDGE,
Notre Dame’s Olivier Latry keyed up about BSO organ
Olivier Latry first played Notre Dame Cathedral’s world-famous organ at 19. A few years later, in 1985, he became one of the church’s chief organists at the age of 23. But he admits he didn’t love the sound of the instrument in the ’80s.
“I didn’t find the organ very nice,” Latry said with a laugh ahead of his performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra next week. “It was a kind of dream to get to play it but it was not in good shape, very out of tune.”
Swinging from a radical innovation to a creaking antique has been part of the history of the Grand Organ. Since the 1400s, through reformation, revolution and world wars, the five keyboards and almost 8,000 pipes have been remodeled, repaired and tinkered with every few decades. The current organ mainly dates from 1868, but a 30month, multimillion-dollar restoration in 1992 radically improved the instrument’s sound, which Latry considers a masterwork in craftsmanship.
The instrument survived the April fire that destroyed most of the church, and that’s the good news. The bad: Latry doesn’t know when he will again climb the 84 steps to the organ loft to play.
“It’s a miracle really that it survived, but the restoration work hasn’t been much and we don’t know how it will be in one year after going through the heat of the summer,” he said.
In the meantime, fans of the organ (and respectful-if-irreverent takes on Bach) can listen to Latry’s new album, “Bach to the Future.” The LP, the last to be recorded in the cathedral before the fire, features Latry’s wellknown mix of virtuosity and experimentalism — he has said that sincerity, not authenticity, is the aim when interpreting classics from the past.
Despite Notre Dame being one of the most imposing structures ever built, “Bach to the Future” has a palpable intimacy. Perhaps this is because the album was recorded in the middle of the night.
“We need to do it then when it is quiet on the streets and no noise will get in,” he said. “We also do it in the winter when the windows are closed so the music isn’t everywhere on the streets. It is an amazing time to be there.”
“It is cold, about (in the 60s), but we French organists are used to that,” he added with a laugh.
While we have nothing like the Grand Organ in Boston, Latry is particularly excited to play at Symphony Hall with the BSO. First, he looks forward to making his debut on a work from one of his favorite composers, Strauss and his “Festive Prelude” for organ and orchestra. Second, he really wants to play our organ.
“What I like so much about it is it is designed to play with the orchestra,” he said. “That is something that matters when playing an instrument like this.”