Re-release of the first recording of the complete piano works of the celebrated organist of Notre-Dame.

Twenty years ago, the first complete recording of Louis Vierne’s piano works appeared, performed by Olivier Gardon. It was at once acclaimed by the press, and rightly so: this is very great piano music played by a great pianist. Vierne borrowed from the Russians, from Schumann, from Fauré, but he stands out through his total commitment and an atmosphere approaching the tragic, a reflection of his own destiny.

Olivier Gardon is a truly great pianist who appears too infrequently on our concert platforms, and we tend to forget that he is a laureate of the ‘Marguerite Long’ and the ‘Queen Elisabeth’ competitions. His affinity with this music is complete (he has also performed chamber music works in the complete Timpani edition).

It would be churlish not to mention the particularly detailed, intelligent and exhaustive text by Jean-Pierre Mazeirat, who knows Vierne better than anyone, thus making this double album a magisterial reference within Timpani’s Vierne collection.