Primadonna

Amongst the Seventies French jazz-rock fusion treasures, we cannot say that Spheroe is the worst ever! The eponymous album (1977) and "Primadonna" (1978) show a post-fusion style, mixing a natural refinement with arrangements and complex developments. The influences are hyper-elaborated, inherited from the Progressive rock played by Camel, Soft Machine or Caravan. The rhythms have a jazz influence, but are also connected with Return To Forever's latin feeling. Devoted to Carlos Santana, guitar player Michel Perez plays elaborated parts, blended with smooth Fender Rhodes organ sounds. Bass and drums bring a flexible and solid rhythm base. The pieces associate fever, nervosity, sometimes serenity but always musicality.

That the four main works on this disc have never been recorded before is no reflection on the quality of the music or the composer. Joseph Martin Kraus, the German-born composer-contemporary of Mozart's working in Sweden, was all but forgotten after his death in 1792 and recordings of his works have been few and far between. And his four Italian cantatas on this disc were nearly completely forgotten after the death of the soprano they were written for in 1790.