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Olivier Latry in conversation
Jul. 21st, 2008 09:24 pmI often find the proms interval talks rather dull, but today's was a blinder: Olivier Latry in conversation with Tom Service.
Latry was both interesting and very witty, happily poking fun at himself and his chosen profession. For example, he mentioned that, during the rehearsal of Saint-Saëns 3rd symphony for tonight's prom, he'd misjudged the sound level and when he came in with the C-major chord on full organ that opens the finale, the conductor and orchestra winced and told him that the chord was far too loud — something Tom Service didn't think was possible.
The conversation also covered the art of improvisation and Latry's preferences about recording improvisations — something he strongly opposes because he believes that the music should be of the moment. They also discussed what Latry had learnt from Messiaen. Some of this was serious, such as Messiaen's strong views on the rhythm of his pieces, and some of it was less so — most of the time, Messiaen was able to guide Latry as to how to perform a particular piece but at other times, when he was unable to recall how he had performed a particular part of a piece Messiaen would turn to Mme Messiaen and ask, "What did I do here?" Wonderful.
Latry was both interesting and very witty, happily poking fun at himself and his chosen profession. For example, he mentioned that, during the rehearsal of Saint-Saëns 3rd symphony for tonight's prom, he'd misjudged the sound level and when he came in with the C-major chord on full organ that opens the finale, the conductor and orchestra winced and told him that the chord was far too loud — something Tom Service didn't think was possible.
The conversation also covered the art of improvisation and Latry's preferences about recording improvisations — something he strongly opposes because he believes that the music should be of the moment. They also discussed what Latry had learnt from Messiaen. Some of this was serious, such as Messiaen's strong views on the rhythm of his pieces, and some of it was less so — most of the time, Messiaen was able to guide Latry as to how to perform a particular piece but at other times, when he was unable to recall how he had performed a particular part of a piece Messiaen would turn to Mme Messiaen and ask, "What did I do here?" Wonderful.
