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Theresia, Claudio Astronio: Joseph Martin Kraus – Overtures (FLAC)

Theresia, Claudio Astronio: Joseph Martin Kraus - Overtures (FLAC)

Composer: Joseph Martin Kraus
Orchestra: Theresia Orchestra
Conductor: Claudio Astronio
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: CPO
Catalogue: 555579-2
Release: 2024
Size: 1.21 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

01. Aeneas i Cartago, VB 23: Overture (1)
02. Fiskarena, VB 40: Overture
03. Olympie, VB 33: Overture
04. Soliman II, VB 22: Overture
05. Aeneas i Cartago, VB 23: Introduction
06. Aeneas i Cartago, VB 23: Overture (2)
07. Äfventyraren, eller Resan till Månans Ö, VB 32: Overture
08. Begravningskantata for Gustavus III, VB 42, Pt. 1: Introduction
09. Zum Geburtstage des Königs Gustav III, VB 41: Overture
10. Proserpin, VB 19: Overture
11. Begravningskantata for Gustavus III, VB 42, Pt. 2: Introduction

For the Swedish conductor Joseph Martin Kraus, the overture played an important role in his own stage compositions. From a young age he had been fascinated by the theater and especially by opera. The great idol of the young German, who made a career in Stockholm, was Christoph Willibald Gluck, whose main concern was that dramatic works should be both logical and emotional. The opera Aeneas i Cartago, written in 1790, occupies the most important place in the composer’s oeuvre; for this opera alone he wrote three extended and dramatic orchestral introductions, which are among Krauss’s latest pieces. For Kraus, the overture was an integral part of the rest of the work – whether that work was dramatic or comic in nature. His overtures provide the key to the dramaturgical content of the main pieces, whether they were intended for the stage or the concert hall. With the Ensemble Theresia, cpo plans to record Krauss’ complete symphonic works in the coming years.

Joseph Martin Kraus was an almost exact contemporary of Mozart, and his orchestral works sometimes show up in Classical-period collections. He went to law school in Germany and not only disliked the place but wrote a satire about it. He then moved to Sweden and, after several tough years, landed a position as court kapellmeister. A big part of his duties there would have been opera composition. Veteran conductor Claudio Astronio and his youth ensemble Theresia (or THERESIA — however it is styled, the group is very strong considering the musicians’ ages) here offer a way into this largely unknown repertory with a collection of Kraus opera overtures. They are peppy, enjoyable works that resemble not so much Mozart as Gluck, which is in no way a bad thing. Without having heard the operas to which they were attached, it is hard to know for sure, but they seem to carry evocations of dramatic action to come. Sample the slow introduction to the overture of Äfventyraren, which sounds for all the world like a character entering and moving across the stage in an ominous way. There are also introductions to two sections of a funeral cantata for King Gustav III of Sweden (whom Kraus outlived by just six months, dying of tuberculosis); these are like slow introductions that never resolve into an Allegro, and they are unique pieces that again make one want to hear the whole thing. CPO errs with murky sound from the Sala Filarmonica in Rovereto, Italy, but this is an album that will find a place on many Classical shelves and hard drives; despite the little-known performers and repertory, it landed on classical best-seller charts in early 2024.

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