Sturm Und Drang Vol. 4 – The Mozartists

The fourth instalment in the Mozartists projected seven-volume series conducted by Ian Page pairs two turbulent minor-key symphonies by Kraus and Haydn with operatic scenes featuring soprano Alexandra Lowe. Kraus’s rarely heard Symphony in C minor, which Haydn predicted would be regarded as a masterpiece for centuries, sits alongside Haydn’s own celebrated Farewell Symphony. Lowe brings both fire and pathos to arias from Traetta’s Antigona and Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, and to the climactic scene from Benda’s melodrama Medea, a work Mozart so admired that he briefly hailed it as the future of opera.