We filmed Olivier Latry improvising at Notre Dame in late 2011, and this film is part of the award-winning DVD boxset "The Genius of Cavaillé-Coll", available to buy at: fuguestatefilms.co.uk/product...
It was shocking to see recent photos and footage of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in flames. What a testament to the skill of the cathedral's builders that although the roof and spire burned off, most of the vault held, and what an extraordinary miracle that the cathedral's main organ seems to be completely untouched by fire, water or smoke. In fact, according to the organ builder who has just looked over the instrument, the temperature in the organ never went above 17 Celsius!
This is a huge relief. The organ at Notre Dame, although rebuilt by many people, is still most indelibly imprinted by the artistry of Cavaillé-Coll, even though most of the pipework was by earlier builders. Among his hundreds of instruments, Notre Dame was unique. In no other organ did he create a similar scheme, with its progressive mixtures and complete sets of mutations and batteries of reeds, all on the grandest of scales. The sound of the organ is rivetingly powerful. There were no problems here with projecting the sound out of the case, as there were at St Sulpice. It's a shame it has been much altered since 1865, but those alterations cannot hide Cavaillé-Coll's work. On which note, our filming at Notre Dame in late 2011 was a sort of heritage moment in itself, as shortly after we left the Cochereau-era console was replaced in the latest round of renovations to the organ.
You can purchase the DVD here: fuguestatefilms.co.uk/product...