Telemann and Salve Regina

[Nick Armstrong]

Cheers BBM and Jazzer. This is becoming a very lively and informative thread.

Agreed. Haven't yet managed to listen to the EMS on Telemann yet, but have downloaded it in full. (Have to say, the Telemann extracts played on CD Review did not go any distance towards converting me though... )

However, great leads in this thread (poised to listen to the Quatuor Parisien Chaconne when time and space permit, thanks MickyD ).

I don't think this comment

the Brockes Passion [I was "badgered" into it!]

has received the accolades it deserves!

[Nick Armstrong]

This piece is the key to Telemann for me, Caliban...give it a try, I hope it convinces you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_qutnEe_DM

MickyD: it's quite stunning. Thank you very much! i think I heard a key marked Telemann turning in the lock, and a door (not to mention a wallet) opening...

Which CD version of the Paris Quartets do you recommend? Il Giardino Armonico don't seem to have recorded them...

[MickyD]

MickyD: it's quite stunning. Thank you very much! i think I heard a key marked Telemann turning in the lock, and a door (not to mention a wallet) opening...

Which CD version of the Paris Quartets do you recommend? Il Giardino Armonico don't seem to have recorded them...

Ah, Caliban...I had hoped that this would have the desired effect. It is such a beautiful and tender piece, surely nobody could accuse Telemann of "sewing machine baroque" here.

As for a recording of the Paris Quartets, good versions are infuriatingly dispersed in the catalogue at the moment. Trio Sonnerie recorded three discs of them for Virgin some years ago - now I see that just a 2 CD set exists on a budget Virgin release, so some pieces must have been cut. Then there was an excellent set from Sony with the Kuijkens, but that seems to have been deleted and only expensive copies remain on Amazon. Another really beautifully played and recorded set is on Channel Classics with Florilegium - at the moment you have to stump up for three separate full price CDs.

I very much hope that Channel will put them together sometime, or that Sony will bring out the Kuijken set as a budget release soon. These wonderful works should be more widely available!

[Gordon]

Thanks for the recommendation [#12] for that cantata, I got a download of it and it is very good and not like I expected. Perhaps we have been playing the wrong Telemann!!

...As for a recording of the Paris Quartets, good versions are infuriatingly dispersed in the catalogue at the moment. Trio Sonnerie recorded three discs of them for Virgin some years ago - now I see that just a 2 CD set exists on a budget Virgin release, so some pieces must have been cut.

The set on Virgin from Sonnerie is only the first 6 I think. £8.60 for the 2 CDs or £7.49 for a download.

Then there was an excellent set from Sony with the Kuijkens, but that seems to have been deleted and only expensive copies remain on Amazon.

Another really beautifully played and recorded set is on Channel Classics with Florilegium - at the moment you have to stump up for three separate full price CDs.

I very much hope that Channel will put them together sometime, or that Sony will bring out the Kuijken set as a budget release soon. These wonderful works should be more widely available!

There is a download of the Kuijken set for £15. And the Florilegiums are also available as downloads [2005 and 1999 versions seemingly exist] but also at £15 for the lot. See list here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Telemann+Paris

[Nick Armstrong]

Thanks Micky and Gordon.

Some complimentary words for the Florilegium performances here:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Channel/CCSSA20604

[MickyD]

Interesting, Gordon, that the Kuijkens and the Florilegiums can be had so cheaply - sadly I am not at all into downloads and prefer CDs! I will just have to hope that Sony and Channel to repackage them in future - and will probably get both! But I'm glad you liked the cantata, to my mind it shows the depth of the composer's talents.

Caliban, I think the Florilegium recordings would be a very good recommendation. "For your futher listening pleasure", I would strongly advise you get hold of this vintage AAM disc - spirited playing and the most gorgeous concerto for flute, oboe d'amore and viola. It was a real find for me and has been a favourite of mine for years!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Telemann-Double-Triple-Concertos-Christopher-Hogwood/dp/B0012L0MIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361862061&sr=8-1

I'd also suggest this CD from Musica Antiqua Koln of wind concertos...I think there may be the odd duplication with the AAM disc, but this wonderful earthy playing really should be heard!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Telemann-Wind-Concertos/dp/B0000057D1/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1361863439&sr=1-1

[Gordon]

Downloaded MD's recommended Kuijken set of the PQs and they do make a greater impression than some of the other Telemann works I've heard. Very French in style of course and I'd not recommend listening to them all in one go - as I did yesterday evening!! Nevertheless very impressed. Trouble with the baroque is that there are so many composers in the ranking just below Bach & Handel that one can spend a lifetime and still not get to know them all.

For example, from slightly later than these I'm very fond of a cello concerto of Porpora which came from an old Vox Turnabout LP when there was very little of his music available. I can't find a more recent recording of that work but now there is quite a bit of his music available:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Porpora#/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=n%3A229816%2Ck%3APorpora&keywords=Porpora&ie=UTF8&qid=1361884760

EDIT:: wouldn't you know it!! There is a download from Hyperion of this piece for £2.10!! Not as good as the old LP, a bit too quick. Also here is a couple of You Tubes of the piece as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wlf1mmpXD8 and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu_-NK-iPGI

for some reason they are given as two files movements 1/2 and then 3/4.

[gurnemanz]

For something a bit different and surprising Holland Baroque's recent CD is great fun and well worth investigating. As a 23-year-old, Telemann got a Kapellmeister job at Zary on the Polish/Hungarian border. He later wrote of the “barbaric beauty” of the folk dance music he heard thereabouts : "The music came from four different instruments: an extremely shrill violin, a Polish bagpipe, a bass trombone and a regal...If you were to write down all that was played there, after a week you would have enough ideas for the rest of your life.” The disc presents of some of his efforts to set down some of this dance music for classical instruments....Baroque and roll?

[ardcarp]

Well, I chose to LA the Salve Regina programme first, and it was great. Good to hear the SR plainsong sung straight by some excellent sopranos. The pieces that stood out for me were the Ockeghem...a truly beautiful piece...the Lassus and the Josquin. The Sixteen and the Taverner Choir made a superb job of the latter two, really shaping the phrasing with imagination and sensitivity. I'd like to hear the Ockeghem done by someone other than the Hilliards. Whilst they are (of course) very good, I found the OVPP (Paul H on top) a bit relentless. It was good to hear Lucy's guest, Owen Rees, talking authoritatively about the provenance pf the Salve Regina text and its chant. And its usage in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qwgnw