Hermann Max, Das Kleine Konzert, Rheinische Kantorei - Carl Heinrich Graun: Christmas Oratorio (1999)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 299 Mb | Total time: 73:25 | Scans included
Classical | Label: CPO | # 999 707-2 | Recorded: 1999
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 299 Mb | Total time: 73:25 | Scans included
Classical | Label: CPO | # 999 707-2 | Recorded: 1999
Our collection of previously unknown Christmas oratorios is growing impressively and happily. After Joseph Eybler in October, I can even announce two trouvailles for this month. There is the Christmas Oratorio by Carl Heinrich Graun (1703-1759), the conductor of Frederick the Great. It was only recently found in Washington. A precise dating is not yet possible, but it certainly arose in Graun's pre-Berlin time in Dresden or Braunschweig. However, it is a masterpiece on the threshold of a sensitive style. The well-balanced alternation of melodically accented and contrapuntally rigorous choral movements, of soulful, colorfully orchestrated arias and harmoniously far-reaching recitatives is particularly impressive.