Erik Bosgraaf is one of the foremost and most adventurous recorder players of today. His modest instrument, the recorder, is for him an inexhaustible source of inspiration and boundless possibilities. He improvises, plays jazz, uses electronics and likes to work with artists outside the box. For him there is no difference between early and contemporary music: “Early music is always new”. The sense of discovery permeates all his recordings of works by Telemann, of which he already released 4 albums for Brilliant Classics. This new recording presents Telemann’s sonatas for recorder, violin and B.C. Played by violinist Dmitry Sinkovsky, cellist Balazs Mate and harpsichord Alexandra Koreneva and the inimitable Erik Bosgraaf on recorder. The present recording includes all five surviving trio sonatas for recorder, violin and basso continuo by Georg Philipp Telemann. As an encore, there is a charming duet for recorder and violin Telemann published in 1728-29 in his music periodical Der getreue Music-Meister. There is also a duet for these two instruments hidden in the Trio Sonata in A minor (TWV 42:a1) which has no basso continuo in the trio section of the final menuet.

Arias from Berlin's Operatic History

Chamber Music For Recorder And

Works For Oboe And Organ

The Six Recorded Sonatas

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TELEMANN Overture Concertos: in G, TWV 55:G6; in E, TWV 55:E3; in g, TWV 55:g7 • Elizabeth Wallfisch (vn); dir; L’Orfeo Bar O (period instruments) • CPO 777 242 (61:30)


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: A7, CPO 777 473). Two of the concertos in the new installment (in G Major, TWV 55:6 G, and in G Minor, TWV 55:g7) feature the addition of two oboes 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). The engineers seem to have placed Elizabeth Wallfisch within, rather than in front of, the orchestra (which they’ve captured at some distance), though she plays the violin parts brilliantly when the music calls for her to do so. Still, these aren’t Vivaldi-like, no-holds-barred virtuosic romps that anticipate the spotlight Paganini directed on the violin part. Yet they aren’t concertos in the style of Torelli, with solos suddenly springing out from the background, either. Telemann wove the violin’s figuration from bariolages and swirling passages, usually setting it against a chunky, rhythmically vigorous orchestral backdrop (strongly accentuated in these readings) that serves as at least a textural equal of the solo violin so seamlessly woven into it. However that may be, the Ouverture to the Concerto in G Minor contains passages that could command the spotlight in Italian concertos from the period and later.


The vigor of the performances by Wallfisch and L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra emerges perhaps most overtly in movements like the Bourée from the Concerto in E Major, and the strongest lyricism of the performances in the loures. But Wallfisch’s tone remains astringent and bracing throughout, arguably tailored to the vigor of the ruddiest dances rather than to the works’ tenderer moments. Occasionally, as in the G-Minor Concerto’s Gavotte, the oboes fleetingly draw the spotlight, and Carin van Hearden and Domenika Trefflinger flicker and flash in these soloistic moments.


Those who have been following the series since the appearance of CPO 999 900-2 in Fanfare 28:1 should welcome this latest number (recorded October 9–12, 2006) with equal enthusiasm for the vigor of movements like the G-Minor Concerto’s Menuet, but those unfamiliar with the earlier installments can surely start here. Warmly recommended across the board.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

TELEMANN Concerto in D, TWV 43:D1. Quartets: in a, TWV 43:a2; in e, TWV 43:e2. Sonata in A, TWV 43:A1 • John Holloway (vn); Linde Brunmayr (fl); Lorenz Duftschmid (vdg); Ulrike Becker (vc); Lars-Ulrik Mortensen (hpd) (period instruments) • cpo 777 375 (58:35)


The works that have come to be known as Telemann’s “Paris Quartets” are actually two sets of works not meant by Telemann to be considered as one combined work. In 1730 in Hamburg, Telemann published six quadri (the word “quartet” was not in use in Telemann’s day) for violin, flute, viola da gamba or cello, and basso continuo, consisting of two concertos, two suites, and two sonatas. In 1736–37, these works were reprinted in Paris as Six Quatuors . In 1737, Telemann was able to fulfill a long-held desire of visiting Paris. During his stay, he published six Nouveaux Quatuors , so-called because of the previous printing of his Hamburg quartets. They were written for the same instrumental group as the 1730 publication. In modern times, these two publications were reprinted together as the “Paris Quartets.”


This recording, labeled Vol. 1, is presumably the start of a new set of the complete “Paris Quartets.” For this beginning volume, the performers have chosen two works from each publication. The Concerto in D and the Sonata in A are the second and third works of the 1730 publication, while the Quatuors in A Minor and E Minor are the second and sixth works from the later publication.


The performers are a very accomplished lot. Most of them have appeared on numerous recordings, individually and occasionally with one or two of their colleagues on this recording, generally receiving high praise from Fanfare ’s critics. We are not told if they were brought together for this project or if they occasionally perform together as a group. They sound like an experienced ensemble. Their performances are lively without going to extremes. Rhythms, while not stodgy, are steady. These performers do not think the music requires extremes of tempo or fluctuations in tempo, something indulged in by the Musica ad Rhenum in their complete recording of the “Paris Quartets” for Brilliant. The results show that such extremes are not needed in this music.


I look forward to further installments of what will undoubtedly be a distinguished set of the “Paris Quartets.”


FANFARE: Ron Salemi

Germany's CPO label has presented the efforts of performers who have doggedly unearthed unknown music of various periods, especially the eighteenth century. With the voluminous corpus of concertos by Telemann, many of which exist only in manuscript, they enter a field with a lot of still-uncharted territory. - AllMusic Guide

Originally released by CPO in 8 separate volumes and at last in a limited edition box set, here are the complete concertos for wind instruments of Georg Philipp Telemann.

Georg Philipp Telemann Inauguration Cantatas 1721 On 21 September 1721, Georg Philipp Telemann, the newly installed cantor of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, directed his first regular sacred music service. At the same time, he presented the faithful with a set program. A cantata was performed both before and after the sermon. At the conclusion of the service, an excerpt from a work to be performed later in it's entirety was presented - a "cliffhanger" whose continuation was undoubtedly highly anticipated by the congregation in light of the variety of music on offer. The Hamburger Ratsmusik revives this historic inaugural service here, and Simone Eckert breaks up the already extremely varied sequence of works by including four viola da gamba fantasias to complete the twelve works begun on earlier productions.

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TELEMANN Overture Concertos: in D, TWV 55: D14; in A, TWV 55: A7. Double Violin Concerto in G, TWV 52: G1 1 • Elizabeth Wallfisch (vn, cond); 1 Susan Carpenter-Jacobs (vn); Wallfisch Band (period instruments) • CPO 777 473-2 (60:42)


I recommended an earlier collection of Telemann’s violin concertos by Elizabeth Wallfisch and the Orfeo Baroque Orchestra on cpo 999 900-2 in Fanfare 28:1. The new one includes two overture concertos as well as a double concerto. Christian Moritz-Bauer’s booklet notes explain that the overture concertos feature solo instruments that occasionally emerge from the texture. The two works in this form included in Wallfisch’s program last each more than 20 minutes and consist of multiple suite-like movements (seven in the Concerto in D Major and in the Concerto in A Major). After an Ouverture, the Concerto in D Major sets out on a series of movements with French titles, including a piquant Badinage (with a virtuosic violin solo), a Rondeau that features a violin solo that rises from the orchestra, a Menuet (I and II), a Sarabande, a heady Caprice, and a Gigue. The solo parts sometimes swirl, in their technically most challenging moments, in patterns familiar from the works of Leclair or, transposed to higher registers, those of Locatelli—though perhaps tamer in these overtures in their technical demands. Sometimes, too, they sound more like the solos that sometimes crop up in Corelli’s concerti grossi. Wallfisch and her ensemble produce a crisp sound that the engineers have faithfully conveyed, and the timbre serves as a medium for the transmission of musical ideas that they present with a gusto enhanced by rhythmic nuances that make the music seem perpetually fresh and inventive rather than rigidly patterned or mechanical.


The second concerto on the program consists of movements that, after the first (Ouverture), all go under the name “Invention,” and each of these bears a further French tempo (or stylistic) designation. In the first section of the Ouverture, Wallfisch’s ensemble (the solo violin is absent, except for its role in the orchestra, in this section, although it appears modestly in the fast one) executes roulades with breathtaking precision. That overture lasts more than eight minutes (as did that of the Concerto in D Major—almost a third of the entire work). The First Invention ( Modéré ) features short, cocky violin solos, which Wallfisch sharply characterizes. Similar solos appear in Invention II ( Légèrement ), in Invention IV ( Avec doceur ), in Invention V ( Vivement ), and in Invention VI; Invention II consists of a number of contrasting musical ideas strung together, including almost plaintive violin solos in the lyrical sections, which Wallfisch plays most expressively.


The last concerto on the program, one for two violins, returns to the four-movement form that the notes relate to Corelli’s four-movement patterns in the sonatas da chiesa . The first movement, Grave, features interplay between the two soloists (Susan Carpenter-Jacobs joins Wallfisch in this work), with the harmonies in a stately procession and dissonances as logically regulated as those in Corelli’s opening movements. The two violins, well matched in these performances both in tone and in technique, participate almost as part of the orchestra in the fugue-like second movement rather than as soloists in a Mozart sinfonia or even in one of Vivaldi’s concertos for two violins.


The recorded sound places Wallfisch just a bit forward in front of the orchestral sound, which placement may be particularly appropriate in these concertos, with textures featuring the sudden appearance of a solo that blends after a time back into the orchestral sound. Only newcomers to Telemann’s violin concertos who expect something like Vivaldi’s virtuosic concertos could be disappointed. Recommended for their lively and at times dashing performances.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

TELEMANN Passion Cantatas • Klaus Mertens (bbar); Shalev Ad-El, cond; Accademia Daniel (period instruments) • cpo 777 299 (69:53 Text and Translation)


Ach Herr! Lehr uns Bedenken wohl. Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus. Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen. Jesus liegt in letzten Zügen. Was gibst du denn, o meine Seele


The five cantatas presented on this disc share several elements. They are all for solo bass and orchestra, and they all deal in some way with the events of Christ’s passion, either directly or as a reflection on it. Erdmann Neumeister, who composed over 400 cantata texts for Telemann and other composers, wrote that a cantata “looks like nothing so much as a piece out of an opera,” and this element may have been what attracted Telemann to the form. More than 1,400 of Telemann’s cantatas survive.


Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus deals with Christ’s agonies in the garden of Gethsemane, with three recitatives setting the scene surrounding two arias for Jesus, ending with an aria by the narrator inviting all to contemplate Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus liegt in letzten Zügen is a meditation on the moment of Christ’s death. Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen expresses the narrator’s desire to follow the way of the cross in Christ’s footsteps. The other two cantatas are more tangentially connected to the events of the passion, although they mention the passion as motivation for the sinner to prepare for eventual union with his Savior. All of these works demonstrate Telemann’s inventiveness and unfailing gift of melody. Where appropriate, Telemann adds illustrative touches such as at the text “when a harsh wind blows” (tr. 25). The orchestration is basically strings and oboes, with bassoon and keyboard added to the basso continuo , and occasional coloring from flute or recorder. All appear to be recording premieres.


The performances are very good. Klaus Mertens is well known in the early-music field and has contributed to many recordings of Baroque music. His work here is up to his own high standards. I was not previously acquainted with the work of Israeli conductor and keyboardist Shalev Ad-El. His work here is good; the performances are reasonably paced, and everything flows smoothly. The conductor is the music director of the Israeli period-instrument group Accademia Daniel, which plays these works one player to a part.


These artists have combined twice before on programs of Telemann cantatas, one for Hessian Radio and one for cpo. J. F. Weber praised the latter recording (31:5), concluding his review, “Add this disc to your collection, and watch for more.” I agree wholeheartedly.


FANFARE: Ron Salemi

Includes concerto(s) for 2 flutes by Georg Philipp Telemann. Ensembles: La Stagione Frankfurt, Cologne Camerata. Conductor: Michael Schneider.
Includes concerto(s) for oboe by Georg Philipp Telemann. Ensembles: La Stagione Frankfurt, Cologne Camerata. Conductor: Michael Schneider.
Includes concerto(s) for recorder by Georg Philipp Telemann. Ensembles: La Stagione Frankfurt, Cologne Camerata. Conductor: Michael Schneider.

Classical Music