OLIVIER LATRY, NORTHMIMSTER BAPTIST CHURCH, JUNE 13, 2001

The final event in the Convention was a recital by the titular organist of
the Cathedral of Notre Dame and Professor of Organ at the Paris
conservatory, Olivier Latry. And a fitting conclusion it was: Latry played
a very substantial prgram with excitement and elegance, all entirely from
memory. The church was filled with a combination of AGO conventioneers and
local music lovers.

   The first half of the program was based on the idea of the dance, and began
with a suite of seven anonymous renaissance dances "reconstructed" from the
manuscript of the Dutch keyboardist Suzanne von Soldt. The chosen dances
presented a variety of meters and tempi, and Latry made good use of many
colors of the 1970 Austin organ, ranging from a single 4' flute stop to
echoes on various plena and ending with a reed tutti. These were followed
by Dietrich Buxtehude's Passacaglia in d Minor, the Passacaglia havinq its
origins in a Spanish dance in 3/4 time. The four sections of the work were
pLayed successively with Principal 8', Principal 8' plus Octave 4', the
Great Plenum, and, finally, a return to the Principal 8' alone. Here Latry
also demonstrated his understanding of appropriate performance style for
this music.

   The final selections of this dance-oriented segment were by J. S. Bach:
the Fugue in G Major (BWV 577; a la gigue), and a transcription of the
Chaconne in d Minor for Solo Violin (the chaconne being a close relative of
the passacaglia) by Henri Messerer, 19th century organist of the Cathedral
of Marseilles. The fugue was played in a quick, light manner, with the
traditional echoes, and the Chaconne transcription was performed in a
dramatic and powerful 19th century symphonic style, with many registration
changes from the opening single stop to the conclusion on full organ.

   The second half of the recital consisted of homage to three outstanding
French masters of the organ, Jean Langlais, Latry's teacher Gaston Litaize,
and Maurice Duruf1e. The works performed were the Theme and Variations from
Langlais' Hommage a Frescobaldi, Litaize's Lied, and Durufle's Prelude and
Fugue on tbe Name of Alain (itself written in homage to composer Jehan
Alain). The Langlais work was played with rollicking good humor: the
Litaize was sustained and singing, making use of the Swell Trompette as a
solo stop (one wonders if the 0boe might not have been a better choice) and
later the celestes. The Durufle work was played at a fast clip with a
wonderfully smooth but driving buildup to full organ at the end of the
fugue.

   Latry's program concluded with a substantial improvisation on submitted
themes. The first theme was (one learned later) the inversion of the fugue
subject from J. S. Bach's Fugue in g Minor (BWV 542), and the second was
the Southern folk hymn tune Land of Rest. Latry worked out the first on a
plenum registration, then produced a quiet, contrasting section based on
the hymn tune, concluding with a final section that included elements of
both. At one stage in the quieter second section a cell phone chirped
loudly, producing among the audience a moment of tension that was quickly
broken by Latry, who imitated the phone chirp in his improvisation only
a few seconds later!

   Latry was called back for two encores, the first a blazing rendition of
Jehan Alain's Litanies, and the second an equally torrid performance of the
well-known Ritual Fire Dance by Aram Khachaturian. Throughout Latry's program
his prodigious technique and solid musicianship were both much in evidence.
He plays very gracefully, with a quiet and efficient technique. In faster
pieces he has a penchant for rather quick tempi, but always remains in
control. He is obviously a master performer and worthy successor to his
famous predecessors at both Notre Dame and the Conservatoire. The Jackson
Chapter is to be congratulated for including him in an outstanding
convention.

                                                           - John Brock

Olivier Latry was sponsored by Northminster Baptist Church.