2002 is the tenth anniversary of Messiaen's death. This 6 CD box set of the complete works was recorded on the organ of the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris by Olivier Latry. Latry has been the titular organist of the cathedral of Notre Dame since 1985.
Messiaen himself could think of no better interpreter of his organ music than Olivier Latry. Yvonne Messiaen, the composer's widow, quotes what her husband said about Oliver Latry: "Olivier Messiaen talked about Olivier Latry as "the new Marcel Dupré". Interpreter, improviser, teacher; his qualities are manifold. His virtuosity, the immensity of his repertoire, his knowledge of all styles. It is difficult to choose what to admire most! Olivier Latry is a master with hands of light, who can restore all the love, the joy and the colours Olivier Messiaen lay into his music."
Andrew McGregor
20th November 2002
“the cathedral resounds with the meeting between the music, the instrument, and what [Latry] calls 'its jewel-case of stone'....it's actually possible simply to revel in the extraordinary sounds [Messiaen] makes, his intimate understanding of the instrument he wrote for and the colours and textures he could draw from it.”
New York Times
December 2003
“Since 1985 (when he was only 23), Mr. Latry has been one of the three titulaires at France's grandest cathedral, Notre Dame in Paris, whose organ is at heart another Cavaillé-Coll instrument. What makes his new boxed set special is the sound of that instrument. At Messiaen's many ecstatic climaxes or eerie epiphanies, the musical colors emanating from this organ truly seem to be breathing the air of other planets. It's a more amazing sound even than that of Messiaen's own instrument. Yet as another organ built at almost exactly the same time and rooted in Cavaille-Coll, it retains an authenticity that other organs inevitably lack.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
