Carl Heinrich Graun: A Gentle Tenor - Italian Cantatas Aco Bišćević, Barockorchester der Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach & Michael Hofstetter

• Carl Heinrich Graun (1704 - 1759): Cantata "Superba un dì la rosa":
• 1 Graun: Cantata "Superba un dì la rosa": Recitativo: Superba un dì la rosa 01:43
• 2 Graun: Cantata "Superba un dì la rosa": Aria: V’è più d’una pastorella 04:55
• 3 Graun: Cantata "Superba un dì la rosa": Recitativo: Mentre così narrava 00:53
• 4 Graun: Cantata "Superba un dì la rosa": Aria (Allegro): Farfaletta semplicetta 06:43
• Cantata "Agitata alma mia":
• 5 Graun: Cantata "Agitata alma mia": Recitativo: Agitata alma mia 02:47
• 6 Graun: Cantata "Agitata alma mia": Aria: Ahi che crudel martire 09:30
• 7 Graun: Cantata "Agitata alma mia": Recitativo: Dunque la mia rivale 01:16
• 8 Graun: Cantata "Agitata alma mia": Aria: Se abbandonato mai 06:35
• Cantata "In quel amena valle":
• 9 Graun: Cantata "In quel amena valle": Recitativo: In quel amena valle 02:00
• 10 Graun: Cantata "In quel amena valle": Aria: Christallina e limpida onda 12:01
• 11 Graun: Cantata "In quel amena valle": Recitativo: Son dunque così 00:26
• 12 Graun: Cantata "In quel amena valle": Aria: Ondetta d’argento 07:11
• Total Runtime 56:00

Info for Carl Heinrich Graun: A Gentle Tenor - Italian Cantatas

Carl Heinrich Graun ist als Hofkapellmeister Friedrichs des Großen bekannt. Weniger bekannt ist jedoch, dass Graun einen bedeutenden Ruf als Sänger genoss und dass der König ihn ursprünglich als solchen an seinen Hof engagiert hatte. In seinem Nachruf würdigte der König seinen Hofkapellmeister bezeichnenderweise mit den Worten: "Einen solchen Sänger werden wir nie wieder hören"!

Grauns Stimme wird als "hoher Tenor" mit "großer Leichtigkeit" charakterisiert, und er sang, so ein Zeitgenosse, vor allem die langsamen Stücke "sehr sanft und ergreifend".

Aco Biscevic entspricht wahrscheinlich genau diesem Stimmtyp: Als "haute-contre" (Tenor mit sehr hoher, leichter Stimme) liegt sein Stimmumfang zwischen Tenor und Falsett-Countertenor. Nach seinem Gesangs- und Cembalostudium am Mozarteum in Salzburg gab Aco BiÅ¡cevic sein Debüt an der Mailänder Scala, wo er unter der Leitung von Ingo Metzmacher sang. Außerdem nahm er am Young Singers Project der renommierten Salzburger Festspiele teil.

Die drei weltlichen Kantaten, die auf dieser Aufnahme zu hören sind, komponierte Graun während seiner Zeit in Wolfenbüttel als Uraufführung für sich und seine Stimme. Sie sind hochvirtuos!

Begleitet wird Biscevic vom Barockorchester der Thüringer Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach unter der Leitung von Michael Hofstetter, einem Experten für die Entdeckung junger Stimmen.

Aco Biscevic, Countertenor
Barockorchester der Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach
Michael Hofstetter, Dirigent

Aco Aleksander Bišćević
was born in Slovenia. He first studied music pedagogy at the University of Ljubljana and then continued his studies in singing and the harpsichord at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He completed his master degree in singing in June 2014 with Breda Zakotnik and KS Elisabeth Wilke. He has attended master classes with James Taylor, KS Angelika Kirschlager, Bernarda Fink, Thomas Moser, KS Christa Ludwig, Helmut Deutsch, and others. In Slovenia, he led the Aeternum Chamber Choir, with which he won an award as the most promising young choral conductor at the 2005 Slovenian National Choral Competition. In 2008 he was awarded the Student Prešeren Award for his work with the choir – the highest honour a Slovenian student can achieve. In his work with the Aeternum Chamber Choir, he put a special emphasis on the music of the Baroque. He has attended choral conducting seminars with Gunnar Ericsson, Andreas Eby and Ragnar Rasmussen. Bišćević has also won several first prizes in competitions as an accompanist on the piano, harpsichord and organ. More recently, he has worked with world-class musicians such as Irena Grafenauer, Mate Bekavac, Davide Lattuada and Joanna Kamenarska.

As a member of the World Youth Choir he performed, inter alia, at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Furthermore, he was a member of the Salzburger Bachchor, where he also worked as a répétiteur with Marc Minkowski, and was a member of the Arnold Schönberg Chor under Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Claudio Abbado. As a harpsichordist and pianist, he has given numerous concerts in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Serbia, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

On the opera stage, Aco Bišćević debuted in the role of Triquet in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in 2009 at the Mozarteum Salzburg. In 2010 he sang Amoretto in Orfeo ed Euridice (J. J. Fux) at the Styriarte festival under the direction of Jordi Savall. In October 2011 he sang the role of Acis in Händel’s Acis and Galatea at the Prinzregententheater in Munich. In spring 2012 he performed with Reinhard Goebel in a concert of solo cantatas organized by the Bachgesellschaft Salzburg. He regularly gives Lieder recitals in various chamber music formations. In September 2013 he appeared at the Schubert Festival Bad Gastein with the Camerata Salzburg and Gérard Korsten. At the 2013 Salzburg Festival, he was part of the Young Singers Project and appeared in Die Zauberflöte as well as in a performance of Die Entführung aus dem Serail for children. In May 2014 he sang the role of Mercure in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux at the Komische Oper Berlin. In February 2015 Aco Bišćević debuted in La Scala Milan in Bernd Alois Zimmerman’s Soldaten under Ingo Metzmacher. In spring 2015 he sang the Evangelist with Vittorio Ghielmi in London, Salzburg and at the Thüringer Bachwochen. Bišćević then successfully took on a role of Triquet in Giessen, Germany, and of Pluto in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In spring 2017 he appeared in the role of Prince Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola in The Slovenian National Theatre in Ljubljana. Bišćević was seen in his most demanding role yet, performing as Orphée in the French version of Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice in Innsbruck, Austria. He is now active as opera singer through Europe and is dedicating his voice and piano playing to accompany himself Lied repertoire, the way it was historically done, at festivals and concert halls.

Booklet for Carl Heinrich Graun: A Gentle Tenor - Italian Cantatas