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Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767) Six Concertos for Two Flutes with bassoon, strings and continuo (1712-1721): in A major TWV 53:A1; in E minor TWV 52:e2; in D major TWV 53:D1; in A minor TWV 53:a1; in G major TWV 53:G1; in B minor TWV 53:h1 John Solum and Richard Wyton (flutes) Hanoverian Ensemble rec. Mary Anna Fox Martel Recital Hall, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, August 2004. DDD MSR CLASSICS MS 1113 [64:45]

Telemann was a prolific composer who wrote a large number of concertos for individual instruments and for various interesting combinations of them. It is therefore not surprising that some of these have yet to find their way onto disc – the six concertos for two flutes given here are billed as world premières. It is not known precisely when they were written but in the booklet Stephen Zohn implies that they probably derived from his period in Frankfurt (1712-1721). He also suggests that a comment made by Telemann relating to "concertos that smell of France" could be applicable to these works. The original instrumentation included an accompanying mandora – a six stringed bass lute – an instrument Telemann himself played. That part is here given on the bassoon, which seems to have been regarded as a legitimate alternative at the time. All six concertos are in four movements with a slow-fast-slow-fast pattern. The initial slow movements are not mere introductions and tend to be as long as the other movements. Playing on period instruments and following contemporary practice of a single stringed instrument per part, the flutes of John Solum and Richard Wyton and the US-based Hanoverian Ensemble make a good case for resurrecting them. They create an intimate atmosphere and some of the faster music is attractive. Overall, however, I do not feel these are among Telemann’s most inventive works although their merits become more evident with repeated listening. I have no complaints about the recorded sound and the documentation is satisfactory apart from the use of rather small print for listing the tracks and very small print for the recording details and engineering credits. By way of an aside, I wasn’t previously aware of the TWV numbering system for Telemann’s works. Assuming they are given correctly in the booklet and back-liner of this disc, I find it surprising that TWV 53:A1 and TWV 53:a1 should be used to designate different concertos. Some of these systems seem to be unnecessarily confusing compared to, say, Deutsch’s Schubert catalogue. This disc is probably not the place to start collecting Telemann concertos. For that I suggest you try the oboe concertos played by Sarah Francis on Regis. Nevertheless, lovers of the baroque flute and "Telemaniacs" will wish to investigate these well-played world premières. Patrick C Waller     Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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