Work: The Seven Last Words of Christ (orchestral version), Hob XX

Sir Simon Rattle steers the LSO through a sequence of Haydn’s most forward-looking pieces while Denis Kozhukhin, as a late stand-in, is immense in Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto.

This Lenten concert given by Currentzis and MusicAeterna at Vienna’s Konzerthaus was certainly solemn and atmospheric – the auditorium was shrouded in darkness from beginning to end.

Die Capella Augustina spielte präzise und mit großer Hingabe; Spering wählte neben passenden Tempi eine geladene Interpretation, lautstark und wuchtig.