Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Telemann drew inspiration from just about every national genre and style of the period throughout his lengthy and prolific career. Alluding to this diversity, this program titled “Ouvertures pittoresques” (picturesque openings) features three of Telemann’s more evocative and instrumentally diverse overtures, as well as two Concerto polonois, briefer works specifically inspired by his longstanding admiration of Polish music (early on he often visited the region and remained an enthusiastic fan of the culture, and especially its folk music). The Polish period-instrument ensemble Arte dei Suonatori, directed by Martin Gester, clearly has an affinity for these concertos and delivers first rate performances throughout this 77-minute program.

The opening Overture in D major, scored for three oboes (one of Telemann’s favorite instruments), strings, and basso continuo, is composed strictly in the French style and is the least adventurous offering of the lot. Nevertheless, it’s still consummate Telemann, and when performed this well the many inspired moments–the inventive fugue that laces the second-movement Prelude Tres viste; the witty rhythmic play during the Menuets; and the ebullient, boisterous humor of the fifth-movement Harlequinade–absolutely shine.

Immediately following is one of Telemann’s most fascinating and famous works, nicknamed posthumously Völker-Overture (“The Nations”) because instead of typical dance titles, most of the movements are subtitled and meant to be evocative of specific nationalities. Like most ensembles, Arte dei Suonatori has great fun here, though the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin’s performance (Harmonia Mundi) reviewed earlier remains marginally more captivating. For instance, while the unusual use of percussion here in Les Turcs is a nice touch, Arte dei Suonatori’s performance just misses the momentum and wit that gives the Berliners’ romp a slight edge. Les Boiteux and Les Coureurs also suffer somewhat from this as well, but the group’s wonderful rendering of Les Moscovites, where the whole ensemble gradually eases into the beat (as opposed to each instrument eventually entering on their own in the Berlin performance), is equally compelling.

Before the final overture are the two Concerto polonois, works stylistically indebted as much to Poland and Saxony as they are to Italy (the verve of the allegros is especially Vivaldi-like). Musica Antiqua Köln (DG Archiv) has previously offered excellent performances of these two, often playing up the contrast between the two fast and two slow movements of each. Arte dei Suonatori takes a similar approach, yet their performance satisfies more because in comparison more attention is paid to the dynamic and rhythmic subtleties throughout, heightening the festive dance element Telemann most likely had in mind.

Concluding the program is another well-known Telemann favorite, his Ouverture, jointes d’une Suite tragi-comique, where each movement is meant to programmatically allude to either an ailment or a remedy. Not surprisingly, the ailment movements (Le Podagre, L’Hypocondre, and Le Petite-maitre) are slower, if not sluggish at times, and take nearly twice as long as the more celebratory and peppy remedies (La Poste et la Dance, Souffrance heroique, and Petite-maison: Furies). Here Arte dei Suonatori again rivals another formidable recording by the Academie für Alte Musik Berlin on Harmonia Mundi, though this time their performance is tops. For instance, the performance here of Le Podagre lumbers along convincingly enough while the Berliners’ rendering is so slow it at times borders on atonality. By drawing out more of the rhythmic variety in the Furies finale as well, Arte dei Suonatori delivers a much more exciting performance compared to the only slightly shorter Berlin mad dash.

The SACD sound is absolutely stunning. The clarity of the instrumental detail is remarkably life-like without sacrificing the illusion of the ensemble as a whole. This is state of the art Telemann and highly recommended.

-- John Greene, ClassicsToday.com

TELEMANN 12 Fantasies for Solo Violin • Augustin Hadelich (vn) • NAXOS 8.570563 (64:52)


Keith Anderson’s notes to Augustin Hadelich’s release of Telemann’s 12 Fantasies for Solo Violin suggest that the composer wrote these brief works with amateurs and students in mind. Be that as it may, Augustin Hadelich, winner of the 2006 International Violin Competition, makes a case for them as brilliant showpieces, featuring a kind of fluent virtuosity very different from the more crabbed difficulties that stud Bach’s slightly earlier solo works. The first movements of the First Fantasie, in B? Major, encapsulate Hadelich’s general approach to the fantasies: finely tuned sensitivity to dynamic nuance in the opening Largo and almost runaway virtuosity in the ensuing Allegro, with swirling figuration separating patterned, stepwise melodic progressions in the first notes of each group. Hadelich takes care to articulate the moving lines so that Telemann’s underlying patterns become immediately intelligible. Even if, therefore, the fantasies make few strenuous demands on the performer (as few, in fact, as they may on the listener), still, in performances like these, they sound thoroughly engaging, impressively idiomatic, and dashingly brilliant, even when heard seriatim . Hadelich reproduces the gestures that characterize these fantasies as boldly as their style will permit, explicating the rhetorical flair with which Telemann endowed them (perhaps in lieu of contrapuntal complexity). The works remain interesting in the sensitive slow movements, the moderately paced gestural ones, and even in movements like the phosphorescent middle one of the 12th.


Those whose preference for modern instruments might eliminate Andrew Manze’s set (Harmonia Mundi France 907137), which I sent to the head of the class in 19:5, will likely find Hadelich’s readings more probing in the slow movements and less straightforward and deliberate in the fast ones than Angèle Dubeau in her generally engaging readings (Analekta 8708, 17:2), which I preferred to Hans Kalafusz’s (on Intercord 820.740), not to mention the less prepossessing sets by Frederick Sarnau (Gallo 687, 16:1) or Ivan Ženaty (Supraphon 11 14072). Still, those willing to adjust themselves to the analog sound of Arthur Grumiaux’s set (Philips Eloquence 8291, 31:4) may find Grumiaux’s purity, elegance, and authority preferable overall to Hadelich’s more variegated playing. Naxos’s engineers have captured their artist in the reverberant ambiance of St. John Chrysostom Church in Newmarket, Canada. But even for those who might prefer Grumiaux, Hadelich provides a vibrant, exciting alternative viewpoint. Enthusiastically recommended.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

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Telemann, G.P.: St. Matthew Passion

Lulli is given praise, Corelli great acclaim; Telemann alone is above all fame, wrote the music author Johann Mattheson in 1740. Mattheson's claim was quite accurate: the director of music in Hamburg had less need to fight for recognition than ever. His leading role in the musical life of northern and central Germany was undisputed. With this 5-album collection Capriccio presents some most important Sacred Music Masterpieces from his early age to the later period. Telemann attempted to give each poem the music that "it could endure": each new "musical poetry" consequently stimulated an attempt at an artistically suitable musical realization. Based in Rhineland, the Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert are a network of professional musicians from across Europe who typically work in different contexts, but participate in joint projects and tours.