JOSEPH MARTIN KRAUS (1756-1792): Miserere in C Minor, Requiem in D Minor, Stella coeli in C.

Description: Phoenix Edition added to the catalogue a disc of secular cantatas in August last year (08K042); this new recording offers two works from Kraus' teenage years: the 1773 Miserere and the 1775 Requiem, both of which already show the command of Sturm und Drang style which some of his symphonies have and again remind you that Mozart wasn't the only 17-year-old who was surpassing most of the older composers around him. The bright and declamatory Stella coeli dates from 1783 and makes use of an organ which suggests that Kraus knew one of Haydn's two organ masses. Annemei Blessing-Leyhausen (soprano), Paul Gerhard Adam, Carmen Schüller (altos), Julian Prégardien (tenor), Ekkehard Abele (bass), Deutsche Kammerchor, La Stagione Frankfurt; Michael Schneider.