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Here at last is a long-awaited version of Theodore Dubois' The Seven Words of Christ. This work exemplifies the long tradition of " Seven Last Words, " developed by Schütz, which also inspired Haydn, Gounod and several contemporary composers. The work was interpreted "religiously" at the Église de la Madeleine in Paris every Good Friday for almost a century since its premiere in 1867. But it survived in an increasingly nostalgic liturgical perspective, often limited to excerpts. Nevertheless it deserves much better, as this present recording demonstrates. Simon Fournier is able to inspire these interpreters with the dramatic vigour and emotion characteristic of the french Romantic era. The Radio Ville-Marie Choir which he directs, the soloists, whose reputations extend throughout Canada, and the organist, playing a faithfully restored, perfectly representative Casavant organ, give the work an exceptional presence, brilliance and refinement. The organ of Très-Saint-Nom-de-Jésus Church is the strongest in Canada and in fact has been ranked sixth loudest in the world. |
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