Review by JJ March 10, 2012 (3 of 4 found this review helpful)
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The Seven Adagios that the score for Joseph Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross” includes was the fruit of a commission from Spain made in 1786, and for which the composer wrote: “We, at the Cadix cathedral, were used to performing every year, during the Carême, an oratorio whose effect was singularly reinforced by the following circumstances. The walls, windows and pillars of the church were covered in black. Just one large suspended lamp at the center interrupted this holy obscurity. At noon, we closed all the doors, and the music then began. After an appropriate prelude, the bishop mounted the throne, and pronounced one of the seven Words, and commented on it. After which he left the throne, and prostrated himself before the alter. This interval was from time to time filled with music. The bishop mounted the throne and descended from it a second time, a third time, etc.. And each time the orchestra intervened at the end of the sermon. In my work, I had to take this situation into account. The task, consisting of sequencing seven Adagios, each of which had to last about ten minutes, without boring the listener was not the easiest.” The version for string quartet recorded here by the Prazak is a small marvel of contained discipline, reverence, and fervor, engendering emotions that are diffuse and deep at the same time. The DSD sound recording adds to the fullness of the group, and offers us a modern interpretation of great intensity.
Jean-Jacques Millo Translation Lawrence Schulman
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