Carl Heinrich Graun’s “The Death of Jesus” was first performed on 26 March 1755 at Berlin Cathedral. The sister of King Friedrich Wilhelm II, Princess Anna Amalia, provided the impulse for the text and character of the work. Its popularity remained strong until Bach’s St. Matthew Passion supplanted it in the late 19th c., the work succumbing to a lengthy and unjustified obscurity. A passion oratorio in the galant style, this new OehmsClassic recording features the Arcis Vocalists and the Baroque Orchestra L’arpa festante led by Thomas Gropper.
