Joseph Haydn - The Seven Last Words of Christ (Jordi Savall)

Information

Composer: Joseph Haydn

1. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Introduzione. Maestoso ed Adagio
2. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Evangelium: Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt, quid faciunt
3. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Sonata I. Largo
4. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Evangelium: Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso
5. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Sonata II. Grave e cantabile
6. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Evangelium: Mulier, ecce filius tuus
7. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Sonata III. Grave
8. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Evangelium: Deus meus, Deus meus, utquid dereliquisti me?
9. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Sonata IV. Largo
10. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Evangelium: Sitio
11. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Sonata V. Adagio
12. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Evangelium: Consummatum est
13. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Sonata VI. Lento
14. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Evangelium: In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum
15. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Sonata VII. Largo
16. Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob. XX/1: Il terremoto. Presto e con tutta la forza

Francisco Rojas, evangelist
Le Concert des Nations
Jordi Savall, conductor

Date: 2006
Label: Alia Vox
http://www.alia-vox.com/cataleg.php?id=67

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Review

The sublime Last Words…as they were meant to be delivered

It is ironic that the original orchestral version of the Seven Last Words – one of Haydn’s greatest and, in his lifetime, most popular works – should have been almost completely eclipsed by the composer’s makeshift string quartet arrangement. Whatever the gains in intimacy, the quartet version inevitably mutes the grandeur, colour and mystic awe of the original; its sheer physical power, too, above all in the final Earthquake, which tends to emerge as merely frantic when played by a quartet.

This rare recording of the orchestral Words, interspersed with brief Gospel readings (in Latin), was made in the same church in Cádiz (Santa Cueva) for which Haydn composed the work in 1786. Its acoustic, spacious yet not overly cavernous, is very apt for this music. Though his period orchestra, based on a string section of 16, is smaller than I find ideal, Jordi Savall directs a good, straightforward performance, carefully balanced, and minutely attentive to the composer’s markings, not least the disruptive sforzando accents that pepper the score. The Earthquake, complete with gunfire timpani and screeching, snarling valveless brass, is properly convulsive.

For my taste, Savall’s tempi for No 5, “I thirst”, with its contorted lines and excruciating dissonances, and the consolatory No 7 are a notch too fast for them to make their full, moving effect: in the latter, Haydn’s delicate, musing violin writing tends to sound faintly frisky. Here and elsewhere, too, I would have welcomed a touch more tenderness and flexibility in the phrasing, especially when approaching the interrupted cadences that are such a feature of this music. Still, without quite probing its extremes of anguish and compassion, Savall and his skilled forces do fair justice to a sublime work that should be in the collection of every Haydn lover.

-- Richard Wigmore, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
http://www.allmusic.com/album/haydn-septem-verba-christi-in-cruce-2006-recording-mw0001425341
http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Last-Words-Christ-Cross/dp/B000W7M1D0

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Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809) was a prominent and prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet". Haydn's work was central to the development of what came to be called sonata form. At the time of his death, aged 77, he was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe. Haydn was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a teacher of Beethoven, and the older brother of composer Michael Haydn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Haydn

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Jordi Savall (born August 1, 1941) is a Catalan conductor, viol player, and composer. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for reviving the use of viol family instruments (notably the viola da gamba) in contemporary performance and recording. His characteristic repertoire features Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music, although he has occasionally ventured into the Classical and even the Romantic periods. Savall's discography includes more than 100 recordings on EMI Classics, Astrée, and his own label, Alia Vox.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordi_Savall

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