[ Naxos / 2 CD ]
Release Date: Monday 3 September 2012
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MAYR, J.S.: Innalzamento al trono del giovane re Gioas [Oratorio] (Brown, Frey, Sellier, Burkhart, Simon Mayr Choir and Ensemble, Hauk)
Bavarian-born Johann Simon Mayr achieved renown as an Italianate opera composer, his earlier work taking the form of sacred oratorios. Gioas is a combination of both forms, being a parody-oratorio closely following Mayr's opera I misteri eleusini, which was considered by Stendhal to be "among [the] most powerful musical works of the age". This mythical drama of kings, priests and goddesses was ideally suited for its intended devotional use, and it joins other pioneering recordings from Franz Hauk which include David (8.570366-67) and Samuele (8.572721-22).
"Franz Hauk has an especially congenial, forceful grasp of this music as leader of the capable Simon Mayr Chorus and Ensemble (despite a few glitches in the challenging horn writing). American soprano Andrea Lauren Brown is brilliant and expressive in the fiery role of Sebia, which is enhanced in the oratorio with arias originally intended for other roles in I Misteri." Opera News