[ CPO / CD ]
Release Date: Saturday 16 August 2014
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The success story of the passion cantata Der Tod Jesu is without its equal in the music history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and gradually obscured the rest of the composer Carl Heinrich Graun's extensive vocal and instrumental oeuvre. His Easter Oratorio, which cpo is now releasing as a recording premiere in an interpretation on historical instruments by the Kölner Akademie under the conductor Michael Alexander Willens, unfortunately suffered the same fate. The music is extremely imaginative and festive and displays a musical affinity to Bach's cantata oeuvre.
"Arduous vocal writing, both solo and choral, suggests that Graun had impressive singers at his disposal. The challenges are variably met here: tenor Jan Kobow is at his limits in places, though there's a particularly fine contribution from bass-baritone Andreas Wolf. The choral singing is notably beautiful." The Guardian, 11th April 2014 ***