Live in Concert 27.3.14 - Olivier Latry

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

7.30 p.m. RFH

Olivier Latry, the celebrated organiste titulaire at Notre Dame in Paris, performs an all-French recital on the newly-restored organ of the Royal Festival Hall, as part of 'Pull Out all the Stops.'
Tonight he plays the four symphonic meditations from Messiaen's L'Ascension, including the brilliant Transports de joie. And Latry's recital ends with Widor's Fifth Symphony and its famous concluding Toccata. Stand by though for an encore: Olivier Latry's improvisations at Notre Dame are the stuff of legend.

Jean-Louis Florentz: Prélude from l'Enfant noir, Op.17
Olivier Messiaen: L'ascension - 4 méditations symphoniques
Symphony no.5 in F minor, Op.42 no.1

[MrGongGong]

Thanks for this
a great gig indeed
Shame he isn't doing the Rite Of Spring as was originally intended
the duet version he plays is stunning (but sadly not available anymore)

[Mattbod]

I am looking forward to this: I was too late to get tickets but I have a decent stereo and i will be cranking up the volume for this, especially knowing Mr Latry's penchant for big registrations and 32ft reeds :)

[Old Grumpy]

This is an excellent concert - I am enjoying the complete silence between items. Quite unlike yesterday's inter item shufflers and coughers. He is either playing to an empty hall or they are spellbound.

OG

Edit: yes there is an audience, but still - much quieter than yesterday.

Further edit - the microphones may be in a different position, I guess.

[Vile Consort]

Have they moved them close to the organ? It sounds absolutely horrible! No blend at all.

[mercia]

he's obviously a bit miffed that he wasn't allowed to play the Rite of Spring - didn't quite understand the reason

[Nick Armstrong]

he's obviously a bit miffed that he wasn't allowed to play the Rite of Spring - didn't quite understand the reason

Yes it was an interesting polémique wasn't it - as I understood it, the publishers of Stravinsky's reduction of RoS for two keyboards refused permission to perform it on the organ, which Mr and Mrs Latry had done in the US where different copyright rules meant that the publishers couldn't prevent it...

[ardcarp]

Well....what to say? A fantastic player. I was just musing how everything lacked the aura of a French cathedral (and that lack made the inner movements of the Widor distinctly lacklustre even in the maestro's hands) when THAT IMPROVISATION came along. OMG. Suddenly everything caught fire, and one could only boggle at the inventiveness of it all, especially given the humdrum nature of Dyson's theme. I know every improviser has his own bag of tricks to call upon, both harmonic and figurative, but is there anyone in the UK who could approach this? As one whose own ramblings scarcely rise above the level of making holy noises in church, worshipping at Olivier's feet is the only possible response.

(BTW, I have a personal story about Latry's teacher, Gaston Litaize. But it would detract from today's wonders, so perhaps another time......)

[Old Grumpy]

Well....what to say? A fantastic player. I was just musing how everything lacked the aura of a French cathedral (and that lack made the inner movements of the Widor distinctly lacklustre even in the maestro's hands) when THAT IMPROVISATION came along. OMG. Suddenly everything caught fire, and one could only boggle at the inventiveness of it all, especially given the humdrum nature of Dyson's theme. I know every improviser has his own bag of tricks to call upon, both harmonic and figurative...

[Vile Consort]

I gave up on the first half. The organ sounded just like an electronic organ - which organs do if you get too close to them.

But I picked up the Widor on a less good wireless whilst cooking my dinner, and it sounded a lot better. And then, as adcarp says, came THAT IMPROVISATION.

Of course, the advantage of improvising is that the organist can play to the strengths of the instrument and steer clear of its weaknesses. When the Incorporated Association of Organists held its congress in Paris about a decade ago, we visited Sacré Cœur, where the instrument was in a rather parlous condition, so the organist opted to improvise for half an hour rather than play repertoire, exactly so that he could avoid any missing notes and get a good result out of a slightly decrepit instrument.

When improvisation works well it is unbelievable. Dyson's theme may have been humdrum, but it was a good one for an improvisation. Not all themes are equal in this respect. Polly put the kettle on works very well; the theme from Coronation Street is impossible (even in Naji Hakim's hands).

For anyone interested in hearing improvisation done well, I would recommend the finals of the Improvisation Competition at St Albans. Unfortunately, there isn't a festival until July 2015.

[MrGongGong]

Yes it was an interesting polémique wasn't it - as I understood it, the publishers of Stravinsky's reduction of RoS for two keyboards refused permission to perform it on the organ, which Mr and Mrs Latry had done in the US where different copyright rules meant that the publishers couldn't prevent it...

That's what I heard as well

(I mean it's not a Jazz trio is it ?)

[ardcarp]

When improvisation works well it is unbelievable. Dyson's theme may have been humdrum, but it was a good one for an improvisation. Not all themes are equal in this respect. Polly put the kettle on works very well; the theme from Coronation Street is impossible (even in Naji Hakim's hands).

....and some 'makers of holy noises' take pleasure in hiding a tune so that nobody (except maybe an astute choir member) notices it, e.g. 'O why are we waiting' for a late bride, or the Blackadder theme for entry of pompous cleric.

The choice of a theme brings me on to Gaston Litaize (Olivier Latry's teacher). A a student I was deputed to be GL's guide for a recital he gave in England. This included 'showing' him the console (for those who don't know he was blind), helping him rehearse, taking him to the loo, waiting in the green room, leading him out on stage and assisting with registration during the concert. In fact he did quite a bit of his own stop pulling which was amazing given the vast size of the instrument. He didn't like any of the preset combinations, and in those days you couldn't customise the pistons.

Anyway the crux of the story is that at the end he was given a theme by a member of the audience which it was my job to play over for him. It was a 12-note tone row....very naughty IMO. GL made a brave attempt, but we were I think cheated of a real tour de force by the serial killer.

[Mattbod]

Not got around to listening this yet but am looking forward to it. I agree it is very petty minded of the publishers over the Stravinsky but not much else one can say.

Very interesting anecdote about Litaize andcarp. I am always in awe of blind organists and France with Vierne, Langlais, Litaize and Jean-Pierre Leguay ha produced a stunning crop of them. I know God makes up for a loss of one sense with the giving of heightened powers in another occasionally but even so it is very impressive. I always wonder though how a sighted teacher teaches music to a blind organist. I guess there is a music version of braille but can a sighted organist understand it. I really wish I asked one of my old teachers the Worcester organ builder Trevor Tipple (another Neo Classical buff and a fine player) as he taught at the blind school in Worcester which has a very decent Nicholson organ in it and has produced some great young players.

[edashtav]

[...]

Anyway the crux of the story is that at the end he was given a theme by a member of the audience which it was my job to play over for him. It was a 12-note tone row....very naughty IMO. GL made a brave attempt, but we were I think cheated of a real tour de force by the serial killer.

A great story, ardcarp, told with wit and concision - its pay-off line is a K.O..

[Sir Velo]

I listened live but will definitely be downloading, er sorry streaming, the recording again from the iplayer. What's the betting, however, that Latry's harangue will have mysteriously disappeared from the tape. One could almost hear Martin Handley's palpable sense of the BBC lawyer's shaking their heads...