Johann Rosenmüller in Exile
Advance praise for Johann Rosenmüller in Exile: "Performances are intelligent and animated. Sound production is first-class."
- David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer
Johann Rosenmüller (1619–1684) was one of the most talented and prolific young composers in Germany; he was organist at Leipzig's Nikolaikirche and all-but-assured the upcoming Thomaskantor position (later held by J. S. Bach), when in 1655 he was arrested due to a sex scandal. Rosenmüller escaped from prison and fled to Venice, where he spent most of the rest of his life, performing at Saint Mark's Cathedral and teaching at the Ospedale della Pieta (decades before Vivaldi's tenure there). This recording presents music from the time of Rosenmüller's exile in Italy, and alternates large-ensemble chamber sonatas published in Venice in 1670 with the first recordings of unpublished bass cantatas—featuring the outstanding young baritone Jesse Blumberg—which ACRONYM has freshly transcribed from a manuscript collection.