G. P. Telemann Musique de Table • Tafelmusik • Banquet Music N. Harnoncourt

…The Camerata - an offshoot of Bruggen's Orchestra of the 18th Century - use only a single instrument to a part…the characterful immediacy of the individual playing translates into a corporate band capable of superb buoyancy and vigour. Flautist Konrad Hunteler directs with a twinkling eye rather than a dictatorial stick…The music's charm lies in a complex amalgam of innocence and sophistication which Hunteler judges to perfection…

Tafelmusik (table music) is a term used since the mid-16th century for music played at feasts and banquets. Some of the most significant composers of Tafelmusik included Johann Schein and Michael Praetorius, who wrote about the genre in his Syntagma musicum of 1619. Composed in 1733, Telemann s Tafelmusik has been compared as a collection to the renowned Brandenburg Concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach in clearly demonstrating the composer s supreme skill in handling a diversity of musical genres and a variety of instruments. Played here by the Freiburger Barockorchester under the direction of their leader Gottfried von der Goltz, these Baroque gems shine as never before.

Telemann's 1733 compendium exhibits impeccable 'table manners' thanks to Concentus Musicus Wien's innate vivacity and Harnoncourt's charm offensive.

Inaugurated in 1958, Das Alte Werk quickly gained a reputation for historically informed, high-quality recordings. As the field of early music spread wider and wider and new paths were constantly broken, the imprint rapidly became the touchstone by which other labels were judged, not least for its epoch-making complete recording of Bach's sacred cantatas. Originally recorded and released in the middle 1960s, this newly-reissued 4CD, groundbreaking set of Telemann's Musique de Table (Tafelmusik) features the late Franz Bruggen and the Concerto Amsterdam.

…The King's Consort under the direction of Robert King perform the Overture-Suites from the Second and Third Productions of Telemann's anthology…I find the new issue delightful, both musically and from a performance standpoint. The players capture the spirit of the Overture-Suite in D major (Second Production) with pleasing tempos, crisp articulation, taut rhythms and fine ensemble. The trumpet has an important role in this Suite and here it is played with finesse by Crispian Steele-Perkins—resonant, authoritative but never overbearing. Oboes are kept busy, too, as indeed is the leader, Roy Goodman who gives a lively account of the several concertante passages for violin. His presence has contributed much to the ultimate success of this project.

How to read Ronsard today? Simply aloud or in singing it, like back then. Because, for Ronsard, nothing is more obvious than to unite music and poetry: “I also want you to encourage you to pronounce your verses loudly in your room, when you do them, or sooner sing them, whatever voice can have. » Ronsard, Abbrégé de l’Art poétique françois, 1565 As soon as the collection of Loves was published, it was fashionable for a composer to set these poems to music. To quote the most famous: Goudimel, Certon, and of course Janequin. But long after death of the poet, many composers have continued to do so: Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, Poulenc… It is because Ronsard’s texts have no no age; Pick the roses of life today is a principle immortal. Julien Joubert reads poetry every day, aloud and even the most often while singing. It was therefore only natural that he lean on the work by Ronsard.