Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Recording information: Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal (04/19/2008-04/20/2008).

Classical Music

On the occasion of it's 40th anniversary Carus has initiated a new series Carus Classics, featuring ten outstanding CD productions from the past library of recordings. This exclusive collection, designed by Friedrich Forssman and Cornelia Feyll, is presented in high-quality DigiPacs and each CD includes an extensive booklet. '... exemplary recording.' (New Classics, September 2005)

VIOLINKONZERT SYMPHONIEN

For a performance of Moli�re's comedy Amphitryon Stockholm Joseph Martin Kraus wrote in 1784 at the special request of the Swedish king Gustav III. During his study trip in Paris an extensive stage music with arias, choirs and ballet interludes. That the wonderful music of the "Swedish Mozart" even without the verses of Moli�re did their effect, prove more contemporary adaptations, of which Johann Friedrich Grentzers is certainly the most successful. Grentzer held initially at the original sequence, but he later gave way from purely musical reasons of the original order. The elegant sound result of this process, some of the pieces require two additional clarinets, shows Grentzers skill and sensitivity in dealing with the work of Kraus, as well as the eight to ten instruments. The Amphion Wind Octet an ensemble for the musical realization, which was recently designated by Bayerischer Rundfunk as the virtuoso elite of the 21st century makes.

This disc is a gem, yet it's also one of those releases that you might overlook in the deluge of new, and frequently marginal, titles each month. But that would be a mistake, and if you enjoy keyboard music of the classical period, from C.P.E. Bach to Mozart and Haydn, then you will certainly want to hear this recital. Joseph Martin Kraus (a.k.a. "the Swedish Mozart), like his illustrious colleague, had an almost exactly contemporaneous and equally short life. He was born in 1756 and died in 1792. His music was much admired by his contemporaries, including Haydn, both for its formal mastery and progressive tendencies, both of which are very much in evidence in the two major works here, the Piano Sonatas in E major and E-flat major.


Composed in the late 1780s, these sonatas are large-scale pieces as advanced as anything that Haydn and Mozart were turning out at the time. The E major work lasts nearly half an hour, and in its size alone it anticipates the large early sonatas of Beethoven. Both pieces have three movements, one of which is a big theme and variations (the finale in the E major sonata, the middle movement in the E-flat piece). Ronald Brautigam plays this music with uncommon ebullience and enthusiasm, in particular characterizing these lengthy variation sets with unfailing intelligence and imagination. This, combined with the bright, sweet timbre of his fortepiano, gives the music the same immediate appeal that typifies his Haydn piano music cycle.


The other pieces are less important but nevertheless exude charm and personality. Both the Rondo in F major and the Scherzo con Variazioni are relatively substantial single movements, and the Swedish Dance will pique the interest of folk-music enthusiasts--its principal tune sounds remarkably like a sort of simplified Haydn rondo. The other two pieces, Zwey Neue Kuriose Menuetten and the Larghetto, are both tiny chips from the master's workbench. This is one of the most purely delightful discs of classical keyboard music to come along in quite a while, a discovery whose musical substance far exceeds its curiosity value. [7/26/2006]
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Joseph Martin Kraus was an innovative 18th Century composer, acclaimed by Haydn as one of the only two geniuses he knew. Small wonder that intense interest has been ignited by his forward-looking music, especially the epic six act opera Aeneas in Ca.

Kraus, J.M.: German Songs (Complete)

Joseph Martin Kraus was one of the most talented and progressive composers of the 18th c., and regarded by Haydn as one of the only two geniuses he knew, alongside Mozart. Following the successful audition of his opera Proserpin, Kraus became closely associated with the court of Gustav III in Stockholm. The highly dramatic Begrafnings-kantat overture was the composer’s emotional response to the assassination of his sovereign. The vocal pieces include works performed for the first time in over two centuries, ranging from Italian concert arias to rare survivals from the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

The German composer Joseph Martin Kraus, spent much of his working life in Stockholm and may be considered one of the most innovative and unusual composers of the eighteenth century.