Bach Latry

For his first CD with La Dolce Volta, Olivier Latry has chosen a programme devoted to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. This recording, made on the massive Cavaillé-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.” - Olivier Latry

Olivier Latry, titular organist of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, is one of the world’s most distinguished organists. He was born in 1962 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, and began his study of piano at age 7 and his study of the organ at age 12; he later attended the Academy of Music at St. Maur-des-Fossés, studying organ with Gaston Litaize. From 1981 until 1985 Olivier Latry was titular organist of Meaux Cathedral, and at age 23 he won a competition to become one of the three titular organists of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. From 1990 until 1995 he taught organ at the Academy of Music at St. Maur-des-Fossés, where he succeeded his teacher, Gaston Litaize. Since 1995 he has taught at the Paris Conservatory, where he has succeeded Michel Chapuis.

As well as being the promoter of the piano recital and creator of the symphonic poem, Franz Liszt was also a prodigious innovator in the organ repertory. Olivier Latry - resident organist on the great organ of Notre-Dame-de-Paris for more than thirty-five years - has recorded five of his pieces on the Rieger organ of the Philharmonie de Paris, including the three major published works for the instrument, fleshed out with transcriptions and arrangements.

The talented organist and harpsichordist Maud Gratton is an artist constantly seeking perfection. A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, she trained with such great masters as Pierre Hantaï (harpsichord) and Louis Robilliard (organ), as well as with Olivier Baumont, Blandine Rannou, Kenneth Weiss, Michel Bouvard, Olivier Latry, and Olivier Trachier.