With the release of this second disc in violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch's survey of the complete violin concertos of Telemann, one thing is readily apparent: the Hamburg composer wrote a lot of really fine violin concertos. Taken altogether, the seven concertos on the first volume and now these eight concertos on the second volume form a wonderful body of work as remarkable for its consistency and its diversity. That is to say, all the works are not only superbly written to show off the virtuosity of the soloist and the composer, but they are all markedly different from each other.
The fourth volume of CPO’s set of Telemann’s “complete violin concertos” contains three overture-concertos, two works of which kind appeared in a previous volume (in D, TWV 55:D14; in A, TWV 55: colla parte , but woodwind highlights don’t distract from the sometimes brilliant solos that emerge not only in the fast sections of the first movements (ouvertures), but in the jaunty movements like the G-Major Concerto’s Bourée (these concertos usually consist of an ouverture followed by sets of dances, including entrées, bourées, loures, menuets, siciliennes, gigues, and rondeaus, mixed in various orders).
In this, the first disc in a series covering the violin concertos of Telemann (of which there are twenty), we have cause for rejoicing. These performances are so fine, and this music so appealing and elegant, that I immediately listened to the entire disc through a second time…. rare praise indeed.
…this is the third instalment of a very fine series. The best work is the Concerto in D, which has movement titles like Badinage and is wonderfully inventive…Wallfisch is joined by Susan Carpenter-Jacobs for some very elegant duetting.
Telemann wrote instrumental concertos for all the wind instruments of his epoch – for example, for oboe and oboe d’amore and for transverse flute, recorder, and flauto pastorale. Since he could play most of these instruments, he wrote extremely idiomatic parts showing each instrument in a favourable light and simultaneously appealing to the instrumentalist. The concertos exhibit a wealth of varied (and often unusual) ensemble formations, concerto practices and forms. A one-of-kind cosmos of performance joy and fantasy spreads out in the Italian, French, German, and Polish styles, and it was because of its uniqueness that cpo set out on the adventure of a complete recording of Telemann’s wind concertos with La Stagione and the Camerata Köln.
Musica Alta Ripa was founded in 1984. The recorder player Danya Segal, two violinists Anne Röhrig and Ursula Bundies, cellist Juris Teichmanis, and harpsichordist Bernward Lohr, all outstanding, sought-after musicians in their fields, joined forces to form an ensemble that owes its special aura to the commingling of their individual personalities.
Ushering in a new golden era for the flute as solo instrument, Jean-Pierre Rampal secured his place in the classical music firmament as the greatest flautist of the modern era. Over 25 years (1954-1982), the French virtuoso’s fruitful collaboration with Erato grew into a truly exceptional achievement in recording history: an encyclopedia of flute music in vital performances that have remained the benchmark for generations. The first complete reissue of these recordings represents the most important collection ever dedicated to a single flautist. After all, it was Jean-Pierre Rampal that taught us to love the flute.
Georg Philipp Telemann's chamber oeuvre has always had a significant place in the repertoire of the Camerata Köln. The ensembles contributions to this field have included complete recordings of magnificent cyclical work groups such as his Essercizii musici, Trios of 1718, Six Concerts et Suites, Die kleine Kammermusik, and Der getreue Music-Meister. The present release rounds off the complete recording of Telemanns concertos with wind instruments on a total of 16 CDs on cpo. The Baroque orchestra La Stagione Frankfurt led by Michael Schneider performed the orchestral compositions, and the Camerata Köln was responsible for the chamber works and the wind soloists of the two ensembles are identical. The second release of the Concerti da Camera once again contains chamber masterpieces by Telemann featuring a complex texture of parts in a concerto style in which each of the concertizing instruments is allowed to come forward with thematic material as well as with figurations.