Rolle - Der tod Abels / Van der Kamp · Schmithüsen · Schreckenberger · Mammel · Schüller · Winter · H. Max

Johann Heinrich Rolle (Artist), Hermann Max (Artist), Harry Van der Kamp (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capriccio
• ASIN: B00000DFFD
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #798,060 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing..., July 31, 2011

By 

Rollo Tomassi (Williamsburg, VA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Rolle - Der tod Abels / Van der Kamp · Schmithüsen · Schreckenberger · Mammel · Schüller · Winter · H. Max (Audio CD)

I was curious about this small-scale oratorio by the lesser-known German composer Johann Heinrich Rolle (1716-1785), but alas, it proved to be a disappointing experience. If this work is typical of Rolle's ability, he must be judged second-rate compared to his contemporaries, Telemann and C.P.E. Bach. Rolle, after having lost out to Telemann for a musical post in Hamburg, retired to his hometown of Magdeburg where he served, comfortably, as cantor and local composer for decades. "Der Tod Abels" (The Death of Abel) was one of his more successful compositions. But there's just not much going on here, and the work is saddled with a particularly clumsy libretto (by Johann Patzke) -- and German requires some care to be fashioned into mellifluous singability. Rolle's strengths are his choruses, which are simple and tuneful--just right for humming by the good burghers of Magdeburg. The performance here by the Rheinische Kantorei is competent if not inspired. For specialists in German Baroque only.