Release 25 March 2014 RAM 1303 2 CDs 120'35"
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING
REINHARD KEISER – BROCKES-PASSION (1712) DER FÜR DIE SÜNDE DER WELT GEMARTERTE UND STERBENDE JESUS (JESUS TORTURED AND DYING FOR THE SIN OF THE WORLD) ZSUZSI TÓTH (soprano) – JAN VAN ELSACKER (tenor) – P ETER KOOIJ (bass) VOX LUMINIS – LES MUFFATTI – PETER VAN HEYGHEN (dir.) _____________________________________________________________________ The Brockes-Passion can be considered the archetype of the German Passion oratorio. As such, it served as a model and source of inspiration for famous later masterpieces, enjoying uninterrupted popularity throughout the 18th century when no less than 11 composers, including Handel and Telemann, set it to music. The superb version by Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739) is not only the first but also adheres most closely to the great rhetorical power and rich changes of affects of the poet’s text. In German literary history, Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680-1747) is known above all for his innovative role during the second quarter of the 18th century. In 1712, the year of the Brockes-Passion's first performance, Keiser, fellow citizen of Brockes in Hamburg, was already recognized as the most important opera composer in Germany – and, in some opinions, even in Europe. When the genius of these two great artists combined in a single work, the result could only be spectacular. The tricentennial of its first performance justified a belated but nonetheless dithyrambic tribute, here presented by the singers of the Vox Luminis ensemble and the instrumentalists of Les Muffatti.
_____________________________________________________________________ PREVIOUS RELEASES WITH LES MUFFATTI : G. Muffat, Armonico Tributo Five chamber sonatas in the concerto grosso style
RAM 0502 EAN 4250128505024
Jean-Marie Leclair, Violin Concertos (with Luis Otavio Santos) RAM 1202 EAN 4250128512022
J. C. Pez, Ouvertures – Concerti Six orchestral suites and concertos
RAM 0705 EAN 4250128507059
G. Sammartini, Concertos & Overtures RAM 1008 EAN 4250128510080