Post by Beagle February 5, 2012 (1 of 18)
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Good, now I can remove the non-quartet versions from my WishList. In my instrumental-centric opinion, the version with voices is just another piece of church-work, but the version for string quartet transcends convention.
"Sette ultime parole del nostro Redentore in croce", aka "Sieben Letzte Worten", stands out from Haydn's other works for quartet. The seven movements are notably lyrical, fusing the vocal logic of opera to the tonal logic of chamber music -- thus setting a precedent for Smetena etc who will later build their quartets upon the rhythm and intonation of speech.
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Post by diw February 5, 2012 (2 of 18)
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Thanks for your comments. I have wanted to pick up an SACD version of this work and haven't been sure which one to pick. Have you heard or can anyone assess the Savall or Weill versions?
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Post by diw February 5, 2012 (3 of 18)
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Actually the Weill version looks like it must be the vocal version. But there are other quartet versions, I would assume the Prazak would be preferred?
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Post by Cicero February 5, 2012 (4 of 18)
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diw said:
But there are other quartet versions, I would assume the Prazak would be preferred?
How would we know since the recording is not out yet?
The Leipzig String Quartet recording has received good reviews from some, but praise has been far from universal: Haydn: String Quartets Vol. 1 - Leipziger Streichquartett. Personally, I prefer the original version for orchestra (not to be confused with the much later vocal version), which is much more colorful and structurally more complex, I think, than the reduction for string quartet, done because Haydn's publisher asked for it. I have been quite happy with Haydn: Seven Last Words - Savall.
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diw said:
Actually the Weill version looks like it must be the vocal version. But there are other quartet versions, I would assume the Prazak would be preferred?
I'm sure it will be better than Haydn: String Quartets Vol. 1 - Leipziger Streichquartett but if HIP is a concern, then best wait for CC to release it when the Amsterdam Qt put it onto disc.
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Post by Cicero February 5, 2012 (6 of 18)
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Polly Nomial said:
I'm sure it will be better than Haydn: String Quartets Vol. 1 - Leipziger Streichquartett.
Well, others have liked the Leipzig recording much better than you did; IRR, for instance, declared it an "outstanding recording" (their quasi-"record of the month" recommendation, given only to a select number of disks) when it was issued. It depends a lot, I guess, on how you want your Haydn to be served.
It will be interesting to see how the Prazak Quartet compares. Looking forward to the release ...
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Post by diw February 5, 2012 (7 of 18)
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I have been pleased with many of the various string quartet recordings on Praga. I would be interested in further comment on the Savall.
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Post by Beagle February 5, 2012 (8 of 18)
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I am on-side with Polly. The Neues Leipziger are too damned polite, more like gossiping in the pews than sobbing at the foot of the old rugged cross.... I dearly hope that the Prazákovo get inside the music like the Kodály did on their 1989 Naxos recording.
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Post by Cicero February 5, 2012 (9 of 18)
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It's interesting how differently people hear, and judge, these recordings. I hear a lot of drama in the Leipziger's performance whenever the very few f's and ff's in the score ask for it, and a lot of nuance elsewhere - whereas I found the Kodaly's execution often raw and felt that they were sometimes exaggerating dynamic extremes. De gustibus ..., I assume.
But do try to hear the version for orchestra with Savall; there is just so much more color there than in the reduction - and it really is a reduction - for string quartet. Period instruments certainly help, even though the acoustic is a little too "generous" for my taste.
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Post by wehecht February 5, 2012 (10 of 18)
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Cicero said:
I have been quite happy with Haydn: Seven Last Words - Savall.
As a person who has preached on one or more of Jesus "last words' (which they're not, of course) each Good Friday for many years I recognize that my viewpoint on this work and individual performances may be different from that of most music lovers.
Musically I think the Savall performance is excellent and the usual superb Alia Vox production values apply. But sometimes when I listen to the performance I find the interpolation of the biblical texts, including Jesus' "words" (in Latin except for the fourth word)to be more disruptive than illuminating. Others may feel differently, of course, about the texts, and about the tendentious essays on the seven last words by Jose Saramago and Raimon Panikkar which cheapen rather than enhance the work as they project their own thoughts onto Jesus simple sentences complete with decidedly non-Christian theology and contemporary psycho-babble offered up in pursuit of humanistic relevance. Fortunately nothing compels me ever again to
read the notes.
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