Tafelmusik Telemann

Sony Classical is delighted to announce the reissue of its recordings by Tafelmusik, the celebrated period instrument orchestra. Originally released between 1989 and 1998, they are all being issued together for the first time in a single Sony Classical box set of 47 CDs. Founded in 1979, the Toronto-based ensemble “has built in its special field a reputation as solid as those of the New York or Berlin philharmonics”, declared The Washington Post. The New York Times summed up Tafelmusik’s achievements, writing that “beyond its impeccable discipline and luminous textures, the group displays an expressive sensibility that transcends the instruments, whether strung with gut or wire”.

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.

In terms of their reputations, it is the misfortune of both Albinoni and Telemann that they shared their time and space with Vivaldi and Bach - respectively, the nonpareils of Venetian Baroque and Baroque everywhere else. Nonetheless, these oboe concerti of Albinoni testify to the considerable talents of the Red Priest's contemporaries. Three of the four concerti that begin CD1 (those in d, C and g) are probably the equals of anything that Vivaldi wrote for this instrument. They show the 51 year old composer (former dilettante now turned professional) at the height of his powers. Telemann's works on these discs, meanwhile - and especially the wonderful Sonata in g from 'Tafelmusik III' - show him at his most inspired…

By Jon Chambers (Birmingham, England)

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) was one of the most prolific composers of the Barock period, rivalling Vivaldi in his industry. He studied languages and science at Leipzig University, and was largely self-taught as far as music was concerned…
…This 29CD set provides a superb introduction to this master of the Barock. He is often suffers in comparison to Bach, Handel and Vivaldi mainly because it is so difficult to know where to start with such a vast body of work. This Brilliant Classics box set makes the Telemann experience all the more enjoyable by making this selection and providing a wonderful window into the world of this great composer.

This is an excellent and varied selection of composers from the very well known like Palestrina, Monteverdi, Bach and Vivaldi, through the less famous but familiar like Frescobaldi, Sainte-Colombe and Zelenka, to the downright obscure. It is all delightful: the musicians are uniformly excellent, and include such great names as Gustav Leonhardt, Cantus Colln, Christopher Hogwood and so on. They give fine performances both of the familiar works and of the less familiar ones. Obviously there will be discs you like more than others and you may already have favourite versions of some works, but these discs are never less than very good and are often outstanding.

Born in 1681, Georg Philip Telemann would inevitably suffer from comparisons with one of the towering figures of western Classical music, born just four years later: Johann Sebastian Bach. Although after his death Telemann may have been constantly cast into the Leipzig composers shadow, during his lifetime he was exalted as Bachs equal and was considered one of the greatest German composers of the early 18th century. Certainly, the size of his output compares very favourably with Bachs; Telemann was also a highly productive composer, writing over 3,000 works during his lifetime (although not all have survived). Despite his popularity falling away in the 19th century, today Telemann is almost as highly regarded as he was in his own lifetime ¬ the large number of new recordings on this edition pays tribute to the flurry of interest that has grown around the composer Telemann over the past 30 years.

Sony Classical will reissue its recordings by Tafelmusik, the GRAMMY-nominated period-instrument orchestra, in a new box set of 47 CDs. Originally released between 1989 and 1998, the recordings of the famed orchestra's Baroque and Classical repertoire are all being issued together for the first time in a single Sony Classical box set.