Customer Reviews

Carl Heinrich Graun: Der Tod Jesu

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Graun was a composer of remarkable qualities - his ability to create ravishing melodies made him outstanding in his day, and it is wonderful that at least some of his works are being recorded and performed today.

It's just unfortunate that this particular recording suffers from two ordinary sopranos who fail to let the music shine in their performances. It's a great pity, because there's rather a gorgeous soprano duet in this work which is not given anything like the treatment it deserves.

The male voices are quite good. Stephen Genz is particularly noteworthy. The orchestral playing is fine, although not outstanding.

In all, the recording does not stand out as wonderful. It's a quite nice CD with a few less-than-nice moments (sung by the two women, I'm afraid). It certainly doesn't give the listener the full glory of Graun's music, but for anyone who simply must have this work, the recording's adequate (and occasionally better than adequate).

For first-time listeners to Graun, I recommend you look at purchasing the recording of "Cleoptra e Cesare" by Graun, performed with extreme beauty and stylish baroque approach. Now THAT is a treat...

I give this 2 CD set 5 stars to offset the previous reviewer's lukewarm critique. While not perfect it certainly deserves a higher rating than 3 stars. Let's say 4 stars. The quality of the sound from this recording is quite high as we've come to expect from Hyperion. Also the female singers are better than I expected. While it would be nice if all women sang like Dawn Upshaw or Emma Kirkby I'm afraid that's not going to come to pass. Again the orchestration was more competent than the previous reviewer led me to expect. And if Bachs Passions are a little too dense and dark for your tastes you may prefer this version of the Passion of Christ. It's lighter and a little more joyful than Bach's. All in all a very nice baroque recording.
P.S. If you're lucky you may still be able to obtain a copy of Graun's opera "Cleopatra & Cesare" from Amazon. It's out of the catalog (an injustice to music lovers everywhere) but there may be some independent sellers who still have copies. Graun wrote 30 operas. When are more going to be recorded?!