Aare-Paul Lattik on Eesti üks väljapaistvamaid organiste, kes oma mitmekesises repertuaaris on pühendunud eriti prantsuse orelimuusika interpretatsioonile.

Aare-Paul Lattik studied the organ at the Estonian Academy of
Music and Theater, where he completed his Master’s degree. He has
improved himself with Saint-Gervais church organist Aude Heurtematte in Lille and at the Lyon Conservatory, under the guidance of prof. Louis Robilliard.
Laureate of several Estonian and international competitions, Aare-
Paul Lattik has been a lecturer at the Estonian Music and Theater Academy and organist in many churches.
Being an active organist both in Estonia and abroad, he has recorded
many solo albums. Last of them, recorded on the organ of the Tallinn
Dome Church, was released in 2024 and has gained wide international attention and was nominated as best classical music soloalbum of 2024.
Aare-Paul Lattik was awarded the title “Interpreter of the Year” by the
Cultural Endowment of Estonia in 2023.

“I'm impressed. And I am impressed by the musical sensibilities and performance of organist Aare-Paul Lattik. As already mentioned, it is, perhaps, his playing and his choice of registration to which I am reacting so positively as I listen to this album. Very nicely done.

St. Paul's Church Organ in Tartu is a modern organ built in 2015 by the German company Paschen Kiel Orgelbau GmbH. It is capable of deep resonant bass but overall it has a very "clean" sound—very direct, open, and clear. While it is voiced in more of the romantic tradition, it does not have the abundance of harmonic overtones that make some other organs sound "fuzzy" and indistinct. Here, the central pitch is very clear. And that makes this organ distinctive, very responsive, and almost lithe.

And yet, performances of the big French works contained on this album (by Duruflé, Dallier, Ropartz, and Franck) sound very French, indeed.

So sounds this remarkably agile and adaptable organ, as well.

No, this is decidedly not a Cavaille-Coll organ. It does not have that distinct nasal sound of the French reeds. But, the registration selected by organist Aare-Paul Lattik subtly allows for enough other characteristics of romantic French organs to allow one to simply lean back and enjoy the recital of this large scale French organ music—to suspend disbelief if you will. Just listen to the Franck Final, op. 21, that concludes the album”

“I certainly hope APSoon is able to release another album with Aare-Paul Lattik in the near future.”

“Perhaps my favorite composers of large scale organ music is the French composer and organist Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986). So, I was delighted to find the opening work on this album to be his Prélude, Adagio and Choral variations, op. 4—a marvelous work. Complex, subtle, never bombastic, endlessly inventive, and gloriously powerful in its forte sections. It is performed by organist Aare-Paul Lattik with great clarity and directness, a real pleasure to experience.

At a bit longer than 21-minutes, the Duruflé Opus 4 is the primary work on this album. And it is so very good that I would have been happy if the album were just an extended play album with this work alone. But, happily, Lattik couples the Duruflé with three shorter works by Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937), Jules Grison (1842-1896), and one of his own compositions, Revaler Totentanz (1970). Each is a fine composition for organ that further explores the capabilities of this excellent organ.
The Tallinn Cathedral Organ (of St. Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn, Estonia) was originally built by the 19th-century German organ builder Frederich Ladegast, installed in 1878.

This recording captures the spacious sound of the church in which it is situated while providing very clear direct sound from the organ, with excellent reproduction of deep bass and extended high frequencies. A very nice recording that well captures an excellent recital by Aare-Paul Lattik.”

Paul Rushton

Maria Lehtlaan õpib alates sügisest 2024 Strasbourgi Konservatooriumis oreli erialal. Ta on mänginud kontsertidel paljudes Eestimaa ja Prantsusmaa kirikutes.