Olivier Messiaen: Complete Organ Works | Olivier Latry

Olivier Messiaen: Complete Organ Works | Olivier Latry | The True Incarnation of Messian's Mystic Art

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Olivier Messiaen: ...

	Olivier Messiaen: Complete Organ Works Olivier Latry Deutsche Grammophon, 2002 average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The sting of awakening.

I must confess that I've been lukewarm about Messiaen. He was often pictured in the 1970's in Hawaiian shirts and suspenders jacking his pants up to his man-boobs and this tacky image carries over all too well to some of his later music, where the extended durations are meant to be slow and glorious like the procession of a pharaoh through the streets of Thebes, or the dawning of God's grace on a sinner ( I'm trying to avoid using the word "hieratic" ) but can sometimes, if you're in the wrong mood, seem more like a senile windbag droning on without a care in the world for his auditors. His portrayal of mystical states often have an air of smugness, of impregnable autosatisfaction.

Then, occasionally, a recording like this comes along and suddenly my spine is vibrating like a Water-Pik. I'm beginning to realize that Messiaen is a far more tricky composer than I'd thought, that what seems foolproof has maybe never really been heard the right way before. Latry has the key to Messiaen in a way that Celibidache has the key to Bruckner, or Stockhausen has the key to Stockhausen. In fact, this may be the one true Messiaen recording that exists so far, in any of the categories from orchestral to piano music. Where other players seem to be twiddling their thumbs waiting for the next note, Latry fills those spaces between with terror and expectation that make you want to jump out of your skin. What usually feel like repetitious passages in Messiaen's music are revealed by Latry in all of their subtly particular glory, like God looking down at the antheap of humanity and still being able to sympathize with one overweight secretary's love problems. A repeated piercing shriek from the organ will be given a smoky, ominous feeling the first time, and then a soft, languishing one the next, and so on.

While many composers benefit from different approaches, for Messiaen, facts are facts -- to play him you must not only be from France, but must be a Catholic. French Catholics, who have a body of literature behind them with one foot in the secular world, by writers such as Leon Bloy, Huysmans and Julien Green, are not to be compared with Catholics anywhere else. To listen to Latry play Messiaen is to marvel at the arbitrary cruelty and unfairness of the church, its shocking lapses behind the scenes allowed to slide on the basis of an infallibility we're meant to take on faith... And then to realize that this faith, unrewarded and abused, trampled on and thrown away, is precisely for this reason, precisely because it's hopeless, our absolute duty towards God. Latry's Messiaen is a celebration of terror, disappearance, awe and infinitely black spasms of traumatized joy.

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The True Incarnation of Messian's Mystic Art

You will not find a better recording of Olivier Messiaen's organ works than this gem. Approved by a Catholic Church official in the liner notes as capturing the religious ideals that Messian sought to reveal, Latry's playing on the formidable Notre Dame Cathedral organ contains a gravity and seriousness that give a rare and divine character to the music. Latry was blessed by Messiaen himself as the best interpreter of his works, and the reason for that is evident here. The music pours fourth in a majestic tide, and Latry uses his formidable talent, the full resources of the outstanding 600-year old organ, and the natural, extra-long reverberation in the medieval cathedral to capture the mysticism that pervades Messiaen's art. This is art music of the highest caliber, and will greatly reward repeated listenings.

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Excels in performance and acoustically

Latry is technically and musically excellent. He "gets" the music.
The recording is a perfect mix of amibient space and reverb and direct sound. Bass extends well down to 16Hz so you will need a good system to reproduce this faithfully.

I've heard that Latry doesn't use 100% of the tonal color available on the Cavaile-Coll organ, but I feel as though it's expressive and rich.

The wind chest noise doesn't bother me. It is part of the instrument.

Overall excellent. Play this loud!!!

A devine revelation

For me, Latry's interpretation is perfect. He simply understands Messiaen and how he wrote for the organ. The organ of Notre Dame de Paris is a monster and totally suited (of course) to Messiaen's music.

Highlights for me, in this set are:

Combat of Death and Life (very frightening use of pedal reeds)
Celestial Banquet (breathtaking)
God is Holy (mystical and shattering all in one)

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extraordinary

Messiaen's oeuvre for organ is simply one of the most sublime works of art of the 20th century, and Latry's performances are jaw-dropping astounding.
The recording is clear, detailed, balanced, and wonderfully rich. Truly a treasure, on all counts.

reviews: page 1, 2

Tracks
I. La Vierge et l'Enfant (The Virgin and the Child) | II. Les Bergers (The Shepherds) | III. Desseins éternels (Eternal Purposes) | IV. Le Verbe (The Word) | V. Les Enfants de Dieu (The Children of God) | VI. Les Anges (The Angels) | VII. Jésus accepte la souffrance (Jesus Accepts Suffering) | VIII. Les Mages (The Magi) | IX. Dieu parmi nous (God Among Us) | I. Subtilité des corps glorieux (Subtlety of the Bodies in Glory) | II. Les Eaux de la grâce (The Waters of Grace) | III. L'Ange aux parfums (The Angel of Incense) | IV. Combat de la mort et de la vie (Combat of Death and Life) | V. Force et agilité des corps glorieux (Strength and Agility of the Bodies in Glory) | VI. Joie et clarté des corps glorieux (Joy and Light of the Bodies in Glory) | VII. le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité (The Mystery of the Holy Trinity) | I. Le Père des étoiles (The Father of the Stars) | II. Dieu est saint (God is Holy) | III. "La relation réelle en Dieu est réellement identique à l'essence" ("The realation really exist | IV. Dieu est (God is) | V. Dieu est immense - Dieu est éternel - Dieu ist immuable... (God Is Immense - God Is Eternal - Go | VI. "Dans le Verbe était la vie et la vie était la lumière..." (In the Word was life and the life w | VII. "Le Père et le Fils aiment, par le Saint-Esprit, eux-mêmes, et nous" ("The Father and the Son | VIII. Dieu est simple - Les Trois sont Un (God Is Simple - The Three Are One) | IX. "Je suis Celui qui suis" ("I am who am") | I. Majesté du Christ demandant sa gloire à son Père (Majesty of Christ Praying that His Father shou | II. Alléluias sereins d'une âme qui désire le ciel (Serene Alleluias from a Soul Longing for Heaven | III. Transports de joie d'une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne (Transports of Joy f | IV. Prière du Christ montant vers son Père (Prayer of Christ Ascending Towards His Father) | I. Entrée (les langues de feu) (Entry of the Priest (the Tongues of Fire)) | II. Offertoire (les choses visibles et invisibles) (Offertory (Things Visible and Invisible)) | III. Consécration (le don de sagesse) (Consecration (the Gift of Wisdom)) | IV. Communion (les oiseaux et les sources) (Communion (The Birds and the Springs)) | V. Sortie (le vent de l'Esprit) (Recessional (the Wind of the Spirit)) | I. Reprises par interversion (Repetition by Interversion) | II. Pièce en trio (pour le dimanche de la Sainte Trinité) (Trio (for Trinity Sunday)) | III. Les Mains de l'abîme (pour les temps de pénitence) (The Hands of the Abyss (for Times of Penit | IV. Chants d'oiseaux (pour le temps pascal) (Birdsong (for Eastertide)) | V. Pièce en trio (pour le dimanche de la Sainte Trinité) (Trio (for Trinity Sunday)) | VI. Les Yeux dans les roues (pour le dimanche de la Pentecôte) (The Eyes in the Wheels (for Penteco | VII. Soixante-Quatre durées (Sixty-four Durations) | I. Adoro te (I Adore Thee) | II. La Source de vie (The Source of Life) | III. Le Dieu caché (The Hidden God) | IV. Acte de foi (Act of Faith) | V. Puer natus est nobis (Unto Us a Child is Born) | VI. La Manne et le Pain de vie (Manna and the Bread of Life) | VII. Les Ressuscités et la lumière de vie (The Resurrected and the Light of Life) | VIII. Institution de l'Eucharistie (Institution of the Eucharist) | IX. Les Ténèbres | X. La Résurrection du Christ | XI. L'Apparition du Christ ressuscité à Marie-Madeleine (The Risen Christ Appears to Mary Magdalen) | XII. La Transsubstantiation (The Transubstantiation) | XIII. Les Deux Murailles d'eau (The Two Walls of Water) | XIV. Prière avant la communion (Prayer before Communion) | XV. La Joie de la grâce (The Joy of Grace) | XVI. Prière après la communion (Prayer after Communion) | XVII. La Présence multipliée (The Presence Multiplied) | XVIII. Offrande et Alléluia final (Offering and Final Alleluia)

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