Telemann’s legacy is extremely extensive and comprises all the customary musical genres of the time. Typical of Telemann are cantablie melodies, inventively applied timbres and, especially in his late works, unusual harmonic effects. The instrumental works frequently reveal the strong influence of French and Italian music, and occasionally folkloristic Polish influences. Stefan Schilli, solo oboist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony, has strongly committed himself to this repertoire; this forms the basis for the creation of the present CD with Schilli’s “Accademia giocosa”.

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Frodge Thorsen writes of this new release: "Telemann's many sonatas for recorder and basso continuo, including those in conjunction with other instruments, can be found on many recordings and are probably known to many listeners with an interest in the Telemann oeuvre. This is why in this "recital" recording, we have gone a bit off the beaten track and taken some liberties. In "Carillion" and "Sonata B major" the bass recorder is used, though it is not actually an instrument associated with solo work. It is, however, a variety of woodwind that Telemann was not unfamiliar with, as he used it in "Trauer Actus" and hints at it in the title "Bassoun o Flaut 4," loosely translated as "bassoon flute," playing an octave over the bassoon... We have also allowed Johann Friedrich Fasch, who had a deep admiration for Telemann, to join the party, With a reverent nod to his role model, he has provided us with a bassoon sonata. Finally, I have taken the liberty to incorporate 2 pieces by Frenchman Jean Daniel Braun into one of Telemann's flute fantasies, the result being an approximation of a classic suite in five movements."

Making their Resonus Classics debut is period wind ensemble Syrinx with a programme of works by Georg Philipp Telemann. Revealing a fascinating blend of styles, Telemann’s wind music is an eclectic mix of perfectly balanced Baroque dances, full-blown orchestral overtures and character pieces exemplified by the rustic miniature of Les Paysans and the gentle slumber of muted double-reeds in Le Someil.

TELEMANN Violin Concertos: in G, TWV 51:G5; in Bb TWV 51:B2; in F, TWV 51:F3; in A, TWV 51:A3; in f#, TWV 51:fis1. Double Violin Concerto in e, TWV 52:e4. Concerto in A for 4 Violins, TWV 54:A1 • Elizabeth Wallfisch (vn, cond); The Wallfisch Band • CPO 777 550 (58:24)


The notes to Volume 5 of violinist and conductor Elizabeth Wallfisch’s collection of “Complete Violin Concertos” by Georg Philipp Telemann explain that all these works come from an early period in the composer’s production, in which he tried to break free from the Italian influence (thus, perhaps, the unvarying four-movement pattern of these works). Still, Vivaldi’s energy, channeled by typical Italian violin figuration, reappears in the Molto allegro of the Concerto in G Major, TWV 51:G5. Arcangelo Corelli’s sequences appear in the finale of that concerto, but the passages bounce with a helium-like buoyancy worlds removed from Corelli’s more stately elegance. The Concerto in Bb-Major, TWV 51:B2, begins with a slow movement that integrates the solo into the ensemble in a way that’s more Corellian than Vivaldian—but seems essentially Telemann’s own invention. The Concerto in F Major, TWV 51:F3, drapes a flowing violin solo over a bustling near-ostinato motive that maintains a lively demeanor throughout the movement. As the ensuing Allegro shows, Telemann’s idea of a concerto soloist, especially in the fast movements (and even in the slow ones) differs markedly from that of Vivaldi and Bach, allowing the solos to emerge from the texture as Corelli did in his Concerti grossi, op. 6, or Giuseppe Torelli did even in his solo concertos. That’s not to say that the works seem soporific from the violinistic point of view: The concerto’s finale, with its brusque, ruddy energy, never allows a listener’s attention to wander, even if the violinist isn’t spinning technical fantasies in the manner of Pietro Locatelli or Jean-Marie Leclair. In the Concerto in A Major, TWV 51: A3, Wallfisch and her ensemble effectively employ dynamic contrasts to create a bracing atmosphere. Here, as elsewhere, Wallfisch rises to a high soloistic profile when the music demands it—it’s clear from passages like these that she sinks the individual, when she does, for musical reasons rather than for any natural reticence or idea of soloistic integration. She and the ensemble play the chords in the brief, almost purely transitional, Adagio with attention-garnering freshness. In the finale, she once again strikes a more virtuosic attitude. The Concerto in F# Minor may be cast in an unusual key, but it’s hardly crabbed; and Wallfisch makes the double-stops of its slow movement sound at once mellifluous and commanding. Still, she’s able to lower her profile in the contrapuntal finale.


The collection includes two concertos for multiple soloists. The first of these, the Concerto in E Minor for Two Violins, TWV 52:E4, blends the soloists seamlessly in the first movement. In this work, violinist Evan Few joins Wallfisch. They don’t engage in the second movement in simple parallel motion, as Torelli might lead them in a similarly crafted work; but they do alternate passages in which they answer each other with others in which they run side-by-side. In the Concerto for Four Violins in A Major, TWV 54:A1, violinists Gabrielle Wunsch and Susan Carpenter Jacobs join Wallfisch. If, as Wolfgang Hirschmann’s notes point out, the textures hardly suggest a concerto for four soloists (with two of them melded into the orchestral texture), the resulting sonorities still seem rich and thick in this performance.


If every one of these concertos might strike listeners as a candidate for the standard repertoire, not one of them has yet entered it. Perhaps this release may start the process of admission. Like the earlier volumes in the series, this fifth volume deserves a heartfelt commendation.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

Telemann wrote a portfolio of fantasies for unaccompanied instruments, and in addition to those for violin, keyboard and viola da gamba was the set of Twelve Fantasies for Solo Flute, dating from 1732/33. Although written with an eye to the amateur or student market, these are highly inventive and original works. With their eloquent melodies, frugal writing, and contrasts of register and phrasing they make an enchanting set, played here by Giovanni Roselli on a conical ring-key flute, which has quieter keys allowing for more elegant trills. Born in Italy, Giovanni Roselli has performed worldwide, and in 2009 was invited to play at the concert for Sir James Galway's 70th birthday celebrations at the Teatro alla Scala.

This is the sixth CD in the first complete recording of the 72 cantatas in Georg Philipp Telemann’s collection Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst, published in Hamburg in 1726 – the first complete set of cantatas for the liturgical year to appear in print. The cantatas are designated for voice, an obbligato instrument (recorder, violin, transverse flute or oboe) and basso continuo, and generally take the form of two da capo arias with an intervening recitative. Telemann’s cantatas are a masterly blend of tunefulness with skilled counterpoint and vocal and instrumental virtuosity.

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This new release features excerpts of an exemplary series of cantatas for small ensembles, sung by one of the most well-known specialists in historic performance, Barbara Schlick. The admired German soprano, Barbara Schlick, studied at the College of Music in Würzburg with Henriette Klink-Schneider and with Hilde Wesselmann in Essen, later with Gisela Rohmert and Rudolf Piernay. In 1966 Barbara Schlick joined Adolf Scherbaum’s Baroque ensemble as a soloist, and began to sing widely in Europe. In 1972 she toured North America as soloist with Paul Kuentz and his chamber orchestra. In subsequent years she established a strong international reputation as an interpreter of baroque and classic music, performing in nearly all of the important musical centres of Europe, Israel, Japan, Canada, America and Russia. Barbara Schlick's interpretations are comprehensively documented through radio, television, and recordings, among others Georg Philipp Telemann’s cantata Ino with Musica Antiqua Köln (Archiv Produktion), J.S. Bach's St John Passion (BWV 245), St Matthew Passion (BWV 244), B minor Mass (BWV 232) and Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248). Since 1997 Barbara Schlick has been professor at the College of Music in Cologne and guest instructor at the College of Music in Maastricht.

The work group formed by Telemann’s overture suites is regarded as exemplary and even today offers a wealth of discoveries – and the three works presented here in album recording premieres certainly answer this description. It is difficult to determine the chronological order of Telemann’s extant overture suites because the composer incorporated very different influences into them, not only from French music since the invention of the form by Jean-Baptiste Lully but also from the “Lullists” active in Germany such as Johann Sigismund Kusser, Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, and Johann Fischer. And for Telemann’s pronounced tendency to mix existing formal, stylistic, and generic traditions, the overture suite formed an absolutely ideal foil. Here we can find diverse characters, formal combinations, and stylistic interconnections in great supply. The great imagination and spirit at work here are also shown in the plentiful stores of surprising ideas that shine like flashes of brainstorm lightning in various passages.

Had it been up to his mother, Georg Philipp Telemann would never have become a musician or composer. However, his irrepressible interest in it made Telemann one of the most respected composers of his time and one of the most productive with more than 3000 works. The Pandolfis Consort led by Elzbieta Sajka-Bachler and countertenor Nicholas Spanos present with “moving Telemann” four cantatas from the “Harmonischer Gottesdienst” as well as two trio sonatas for transverse flute or oboe with viola and basso continuo. In addition to the diverse historical instruments with violin, violetta, viola, violoncello and theorbo as well as archiliuto, the use of a (modern) accordion instead of the organ ensures a refreshing and truly “moving” listening experience.

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