The first children’s (song) book published by Carus “Hans, mach Dampf!” [Hans, Steam On!] by Peter Schindler had been her stady companion throuout her association with the Carus publishing hous and she still likes to flip through its pages. The musical children’s story is not only nice to read (aloud) and – thanks to the sing-along CD – to listen to, it is also beautifully and comprehensibly illustrated for younger children.
For Miriam Groß, the “Missa in C minor” is one of the most impressive Mozart mass settings. The incomplete mass was not – as usual – written on the basis of a composition commission, but Mozart vowed to write a mass if he succeeded in marrying his well-known Constanze Weber. Against this background, it is not surprising that the soprano solo (the future Constanze Mozart was after all a soprano) has a very large, often operatic aria-like part in this mass. The mass was reconstruted several times; two of these versions are available from Carus.
When the conductor of the “Folkwang Vocalensemble” presented the singers, including Isabelle Métrope, with a ten-part piece last year, all the singers were enthusiastic. When he revealed that it was a piece by Domenico Scarlatti, everyone was surprised. Scarlatti? For vocal ensemble? Yes, the son of Alessandro. Like his father, Domenico wrote numerous works for harpsichord (over 550 sonatas), as well as stage works and sacred vocal music. The “Stabat Mater” is a work which particularly stands out amongst his entire output …
