Joseph Martin Kraus was born in the same year as Mozart and died only one year after him; like him, he was also a musician who revealed his extraordinary talent at an early age. It is only in recent years, however, that Kraus has again begun to receive somewhat more attention as a multitalented artistic personality. Born in Miltenberg am Main, Kraus enjoyed a career that took him to Stockholm as court music director to the music-loving King Gustavus III. In their originality his sacred compositions tower above the conventional liturgical repertoire produced in Southern Germany during the second half of the eighteenth century.
Gottfried von der Goltz, first violin and conductor of the first-rate Freiburger Barockorchester comes back with a new album dedicated to the violin sonatas of a young - and already brilliant - Telemann. Rarely recorded, these works show a very surprising form as they allow the musician total freedom of expression and ornamentation. These features demonstrate also the unique creative inventiveness already in germ in Telemann’s music.