Graun: Polydorus, GraunWV B:I:3

Featuring

Hanna Zumsande
Santa Karnīte
Alon Harari
Mirko Ludwig
Fabian Kuhnen
Ralf Grobe

Andreas Heinemeyer
Ira Hochman
Barockwerk Hamburg
Carl Heinrich Graun

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Critical Reception

In 1898, a critic declared Carl Heinrich Graun's operas "dead and will never return to life," a judgment this recording aims to refute.

Historical Context

Graun's German operas, despite their quality, were largely forgotten because Italian operas dominated German stages outside of Braunschweig and Hamburg at the time.

Recording & Production

This recording of Polydorus is the first, featuring a dramaturgically abridged version, and was performed for the first time in 2018 at the Hamburg State and University Library.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Johann Georg Sulzer, a contemporary, noted that Graun's style was characterized by a "soul filled with tenderness, gentleness, and pleasantness," resulting in bright, clear, and melodious music.

Composition History

Graun's opera Polydorus is a German setting of a libretto by Johann Samuel Müller, which itself was based on an Italian libretto by Agostino Piovene, ultimately derived from Euripides' Hecuba.

Compositional Technique

Graun's music for Polydorus is described as stylistically more mature, richly instrumented, and more precise in characterization compared to an earlier setting of the same libretto by Antonio Lotti.