This second instalment in Naxos’s survey of the symphonies of Joseph Martin Kraus, Mannheim-trained but active for most of his career at the Swedish court of Gustavus III, focuses on four early works, all probably dating from the 1770s. If none of the music here has quite the distinctive profile of the symphonies in Vol. 1 (5/98), all make for lively, enjoyable listening. Best, I think, is the C major work, part-symphony, part-sinfonia concertante, with a virtuoso obbligato part for violin and star turns for flute and cello. The opening Allegro, prefaced by a poignant slow introduction in E minor(!), has a powerfully modulating central development; and the finale is a highly entertaining romp on a catchy, Haydnesque theme. Of the other symphonies, the F major and the A major are full of Mannheim-style orchestral writing – ‘skyrocket’ arpeggios, slow-burn crescendos, string tremolandos and so on. The first movement of the F major is an especially fiery piece, with, again, a striking sequence of modulations in the development, while the finale of the A major is a rollicking chase, complete with authentic horn calls. Rounding off the disc is the F major Sinfonia buffa, described by Bertil van Boer in his excellent notes as ‘a miniature pantomime’. All three movements are full of madcap discontinuities of mood and texture: the first movement trails off into thin air, while the breezy finale includes virtuoso sallies for the two flutes and, at one point, a passage of Gregorian chant adapted to a comically halting rhythm.
Though period instruments might have given the music greater pungency and transparency of texture, the Royal Swedish Chamber Orchestra is a polished, responsive group, fielding a first-rate bunch of (unnamed) obbligato players. Petter Sundkvist directs the quick movements with verve and neat, shapely phrasing, though a couple of the slow movements, especially the Andante of VB130, would have benefited from a lighter touch and a more mobile tempo. In sum, a very welcome addition to Naxos’s enterprising Eighteenth-Century Symphony series, whetting the appetite for more discs devoted to this gifted composer. And who knows, Naxos may even get round to recording what is probably Kraus’s masterpiece, the moving Begravingskantata composed for the funeral of Gustavus III – still a serious gap on the Gramophone Database.'