VLADIMIR JUROWSKI
Listen and buy
LPO-0051
Listen and buy
HAYDN THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF OUR SAVIOUR ON THE CROSS
8
LPO-0047
HOLST THE PLANETS
Vladimir Jurowski conductor, Lisa Milne soprano Ruxandra Donose mezzo soprano Andrew Kennedy tenor, Christopher Maltman baritone, London Philharmonic Choir
Vladimir Jurowski conductor London Philharmonic Choir
This series of seven Easter meditations includes some of Haydn’s most intense and inventive music, evoking the struggle of Christ’s final hours and the solemnity of the church’s Holy Week services. This live performance of The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross juxtaposes Haydn’s original instrumental movements with their later choral versions, offering a multi-layered experience of the work.
Few composers have achieved such success with a single work as Holst with The Planets. Each movement expresses the planet’s supposed astrological character, and the colourful orchestration and memorable melodies ensured its immediate and ongoing popularity. It’s hard to believe now that it was a groundbreaking work – a huge, multi-movement piece that finally fades into ethereal silence as wordless voices disappear into outer space.