Notes and Editorial Reviews
Genuine musical wit is a rare commodity. Telemann, like Haydn and Mozart, was one of its masters, a composer who knew exactly how to judge its effect without overdoing it. This hugely entertaining and characterful disc concentrates to a large extent on works that one way or another exploit this gift. The most familiar is the brilliant portrayal of episodes from
Don Quixote
, although it is surprising that it has not had more outings in the year in which the 400th anniversary of Cervante?s great novel has been widely celebrated in Europe (I?m still writing in 2005). Still, this more than fills the bill, with the
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knight?s attack on the windmills played with a furious, whiplash unanimity, the
tirate
of ?Sancho Panza tossed in a blanket? vividly descriptive, and the exaggerated sighs that accompany Quixote?s love for Dulcinea conveying sufficiently an element of parody to remind us that the ?Knight of the sad countenance? was a 19th-century gloss.
The
Ouverture burlesque
is another work with mimetic elements, although less graphic than those in the
Don Quixotte
(more properly
Quichotte
) suite. Following a French overture with a fine dotted opening section, more serious than one might be expecting (it?s in B Minor), the remaining movements portray the principal characters of the
commedia dell?arte
tradition, including a confident, cocky Harlequin (iii), a sentimental siciliana to depict Colombine (iv), and an alternately strutting and leaping Pierrot (v). The short
Grillen-symphonie
is an extraordinary piece in which Telemann?s flair for unusual orchestration comes to the fore. The word
Grillen
has been variously translated as ?cricket? or ?whimsical,? the latter certainly appropriate for a work that includes concertante parts for a pair of gamboling double basses, oboe, flute, or piccolo, alto chalumeau (unfortunately, and unlike Collegium Musicum 90?s Chandos recording, here replaced by a second oboe). And who but Telemann would head a movement ?flirtatious, trifling?? Leaving such whimsy aside, it is the striking modernity of writing that catches the ear, once again underlining Telemann?s crucial role in the development of the
galant
style.
The final movement of the
Grillen-symphonie
is a furious folk dance in the composer?s favorite Polish style, which is naturally more overtly explored in the enchanting
Concerto polonois
, a work that opens with one of Telemann?s most ingratiating movements, a Dolce that is here arguably, if understandably, played just a little too lovingly by Apollo?s Fire. There is certainly nothing bizarre or whimsical about the E-Minor Concerto, scored for the unusual solo combination of flute and recorder, and outstandingly well played by Kathie Lynne Stewart and Michael Lynn. One of Telemann?s finest concertos, it combines the two instruments in a silvery luminescence in the opening Largo and playful cavorting in the succeeding Allegro. And surely Handel must have had the second Largo in mind when he came to write ?Where?er you walk? in
Semele
(1744).
Much of this is the kind of music that frequently tempts performers to add their own bizarre special ?effects,? but here they are avoided apart from some very discreet percussion in the Turkish finale of the
Ouverture burlesque
. It should be obvious from the foregoing that I enjoyed this disc enormously. The playing under Jeannette Sorrell is unfailingly bright-eyed, alert, and quite brilliantly executed with flair and panache; it has also been superbly reproduced. There are discs that move, discs that excite, discs that overwhelm. This one just makes you feel a lot better for having heard it.
FANFARE: Brian Robins
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Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto polonois in G major, Z 9 by Georg Philipp Telemann
Conductor:
Jeannette Sorrell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Apollo's Fire
Period: Baroque
Date of Recording: 03/2002
Venue: St. Paul's Church, Cleveland Heights, OH
Length: 8 Minutes 56 Secs.
2.
Concerto for Recorder and Flute in E minor, TV 52 no e 1 by Georg Philipp Telemann
Performer:
Jeannette Sorrell (Harpsichord),
Kathie Lynn Stewart (Flute),
Michael Lynn (Recorder)
Conductor:
Jeannette Sorrell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Apollo's Fire
Period: Baroque
Written: Germany
Date of Recording: 03/2002
Venue: St. Paul's Church, Cleveland Heights, OH
Length: 13 Minutes 53 Secs.
3.
Symphony no 1 in G major, TV 50 no 1 "Il grillo" by Georg Philipp Telemann
Performer:
Jeannette Sorrell (Harpsichord),
Tracey Rowell (Double Bass),
Henry Peyrebrune (Double Bass)
Conductor:
Jeannette Sorrell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Apollo's Fire
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1765; Hamburg, Germany
Date of Recording: 03/2002
Venue: St. Paul's Church, Cleveland Heights, OH
Length: 8 Minutes 38 Secs.
4.
Overture-Suite for Strings and Basso continuo in B flat major, TV 55 no B 8 "Burlesque" by Georg Philipp Telemann
Performer:
Jeannette Sorrell (Harpsichord)
Conductor:
Jeannette Sorrell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Apollo's Fire
Period: Baroque
Date of Recording: 10/2002
Venue: St. Paul's Church, Cleveland Heights, OH
Length: 101 Minutes 27 Secs.
5.
Overture-Suite for Strings and Basso continuo in G major, TV 55 no G 10 "Burlesque de Quixotte" by Georg Philipp Telemann
Performer:
Jeannette Sorrell (Harpsichord)
Conductor:
Jeannette Sorrell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Apollo's Fire
Period: Baroque
Date of Recording: 10/2002
Venue: St. Paul's Church, Cleveland Heights, OH
Length: 17 Minutes 26 Secs.
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