How are YOU celebrating Telemann's Birthday?

[Corlyss_D]

I have an old treasured disc of his viola concerto et al. to enjoy.

How about you?

[Chalkperson]

I have eighty-eight Telemann CD's, according to my Database I can keep celebrating his Birthday 24/7 for 3.7 days...

[CharmNewton]

The Suite in A minor for Treble Recorder, Strings and Continuo with David Munrow the soloist and Neville MArriner conducting. It's an Angel LP (S-37019).

John

[jbuck919]

I'll be listening to the complete organ works. OK, done.

[Ted Quanrud]

Hi Corlyss --

I just broadcast Telemann's Overture in C, subittled "Hamburg Ebb und Fluth" or "Wassermusik,"on my radio show a few minutes ago.

[Lance]

Why ... why ... YES! I have been listening to NOTHING BUT TELEMANN SOCIETY RECORDINGS by Theodora and Richard Schulze. Want to join me? It is a listening experience NEVER to be forgotten.

[CharmNewton]

Why ... why ... YES! I have been listening to NOTHING BUT TELEMANN SOCIETY RECORDINGS by Theodora and Richard Schulze. Want to join me? It is a listening experience NEVER to be forgotten.

So you acknowledge hanging on to them.

John

[Chalkperson]

Why ... why ... YES! I have been listening to NOTHING BUT TELEMANN SOCIETY RECORDINGS by Theodora and Richard Schulze. Want to join me? It is a listening experience NEVER to be forgotten.

I listened to them once, every time I remember them it's in a nightmare and I wake up sweating...

[Lance]

Yes, just for the "incredible" performances the discs carry. I often use them as "examples" of "the best of Telemann!!!"

Why ... why ... YES! I have been listening to NOTHING BUT TELEMANN SOCIETY RECORDINGS by Theodora and Richard Schulze. Want to join me? It is a listening experience NEVER to be forgotten.

So you acknowledge hanging on to them.

John

[Lance]

Too bad you didn't know our original leader, Mr. Ward Botsford, who worked with the Society and produced some of their recordings!

Why ... why ... YES! I have been listening to NOTHING BUT TELEMANN SOCIETY RECORDINGS by Theodora and Richard Schulze. Want to join me? It is a listening experience NEVER to be forgotten.

I listened to them once, every time I remember them it's in a nightmare and I wake up sweating...

[moldyoldie]

How are YOU celebrating Telemann's Birthday?

By playing some Corelli.

[josé echenique]

Listening to the magnificent Paris Quartets is a great way to celebrate Telemann. This is probably the finest recording of these works, with the Kuijken brothers and Gustav Leonhardt, but if you don´t want to invest a little more than 40 bucks in a set, the Brilliant recording also gave me great pleasure, and it´s dirt cheap.

[Mark Harwood]

I have the Paris Quartets on Veritas, played by Wilbert Hazelzet, Monica Huggett, Sarah Cunningham & two harpsichordists. I enjoy Telemann a lot, but for some reason these pieces haven't engaged me so much yet. Must give them another go.
The 5 CD set on Capriccio was a real find, full of variety.

[josé echenique]

I have the Paris Quartets on Veritas, played by Wilbert Hazelzet, Monica Huggett, Sarah Cunningham & two harpsichordists. I enjoy Telemann a lot, but for some reason these pieces haven't engaged me so much yet. Must give them another go.
The 5 CD set on Capriccio was a real find, full of variety.

That recording is also very good, especially for Hazelzet, former flute of Musica Antiqua Köln. You should give the Paris Quartets another try, they are very sophisticated Telemann, very elegant music. Some professional musicians I know, rate them as some of the best music Telemann ever composed.

[Seán]

Oh dear, I don't have any recordings of Telemann's music. Recommendations would be very welcome. How about the Musica Amphion Tafelmusik 4 CD set on Brillant Classics, is that worth getting?

[ContrapunctusIX]

I will belatedly listen to the following:

Wassermusik suite in C Major - Musica Antiqua Koln & Reinhard Goebel - Archiv
Concerto in F Major for 3 Violins (from Tafelmusik) - TWV 53 - Musica Antiqua Koln & Reinhard Goebel - Archiv
Suite in A Minor for Recorder (New London Consort, Philip Pickett) - L'Oiseau Lyre
Suite in F Minor for Strings (Musicus Concentus Wien & Nikolaus Harnoncourt - Teldec

[Chalkperson]

Oh dear, I don't have any recordings of Telemann's music. Recommendations would be very welcome. How about the Musica Amphion Tafelmusik 4 CD set on Brillant Classics, is that worth getting?

I can't stop thinking of chocolate when I listen to those Trufflemusik recordings, they are very fine though...

[Fergus]

Oh dear, I don't have any recordings of Telemann's music. Recommendations would be very welcome. How about the Musica Amphion Tafelmusik 4 CD set on Brillant Classics, is that worth getting?

The Tafelmusik is very fine music Seán but if you are just coming to Telemann I personally would not start there....I would go for something like a collection of his Overtures or Concertos myself....just to give you a feel for the guy

[Corlyss_D]

I agree with Fergus. A first timer to Telemann should go with concertos and ouvertures, particularly his "Wassermusik" or Hamburg Tides, just about the only thing of his that gets air time. That Brilliant set has 2 discs of chamber music, trios and such, which is apt to bore a newcomer. Go for the orchestral works. You wouldn't hurt yourself with a few concertos either. Since he wrote more music than Bach and Handel combined, there's a lot of stuff that hasn't made it to record yet. The entire disc of Naxos with the Viola concerto is lovely, a personal fav.



This boxed set looks good, but is concertos only:

[Chalkperson]

I agree with Fergus. A first timer to Telemann should go with concertos and ouvertures, particularly his "Wassermusik" or Hamburg Tides, just about the only thing of his that gets air time. That Brilliant set has 2 discs of chamber music, trios and such, which is apt to bore a newcomer.

Interesting, I disagree to a degree...Sean bought some of Zelenka's Chamber Music, Telemann would help steer him in that direction, methinks...you have to learn to love Chamber Music sometime, even if it initially puts you off, don't give up, also, don't sit down and absorb it cerebrally, play it whilst you are doing something else, after a while too many Overtures and Concertos gets boring too...this is what Fanfare says about the Brilliant Box...

TELEMANN Tafelmusik, Part 2: Overture for Oboe, Trumpet, and Strings in D; Quartet for 2 Flutes, Recorder, and Bassoon in d; Concerto for 3 Violins in F. Tafelmusik, Part 1: Conclusion for 2 Flutes and Strings in e • Pieter-Jan Belder (hpd, rcr), cond; Musica Amphion • BRILLIANT 92213 (Hybrid Multichannel SACD: 61:13) Live: Utrecht, 2003

This disc is delightful. Georg Philipp Telemann’s three volumes of “table music” contain carefully selected pieces for larger and smaller ensembles, published in 1733 at the peak of his fame. He was, indeed, more successful in appointments, more prolific in composition, and longer in years than his now more celebrated contemporaries, Antonio Vivaldi, G. F. Handel, and J. S. Bach. The present program demonstrates his creative genius in sprightly and beguiling realizations by virtuoso players expert in historical performance practices. Recorded in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in 2003, the program unfolds in excellent sound in two-channel stereo, and in superb sound in multichannel SACD mode. Brilliant Classics are relative bargains and, in this instance, a great bargain indeed, because this is state-of-the-art performance and recording.

Individual pieces and performers deserve some special mention. If that is indeed a natural trumpet in the opening Overture and Suite, William Wroth is a phenomenal player. His intonation is better than most players can achieve on a modern, valved instrument, and he produces a tone both brilliant and sweet. The three violinists in the concerto both match and contrast their sounds in a fascinating display of unison and divided lines. The transverse flutists and the recorder-player provide an intriguing study in contrasting timbres.

Pieter-Jan Belder guides this ensemble, provides the program notes, and performs on recorder and harpsichord. It appears that more recordings will be forthcoming from this source. I certainly hope so. Robert McColley

Try the Paris Quartets too...

TELEMANN Paris Quartets • Florilegium (period instruments) • CHANNEL CCS 13598 (65:12).
Sonata seconda in g. Sonata prima in A. Concerto secondo in D. 1ère suite in e. Fantasia No. 5 for Violin in A. Fantasia No. 7 for Flute in D. Fantasia No. 8 for Harpsichord in G

Telemann lovers have been blessed with a bounty of recent recordings of the "Paris" quartets, once rare. The complete set of twelve from the Kuijkens was especially attractive. Even in this context, however, this disc from Florilegium (Ashley Solomon, flute, Rachel Podger, violin, Daniel Yeadon, gamba, Neal Peres da Costa, harpsichord, with Elizabeth Kenny, theorbo, on the suite) deserves special accolades. It truly stands out, and will certainly be one of my favorite recordings for 1999. Each player turns in outstanding playing. As a flutist, I am especially taken by the combination of virtuosity and liquid, lyric tone from Ashley Solomon, and the continuo realizations of Peres da Costa are sensitive, expressive, lively, fascinating. The ensemble as a whole plays superbly together, and the balance between the individual voices is ideal. The phrasing is intimate and conversational, and the discreet ornamentation is stylish and charming. You know already, of course, that these pieces (drawn from the earlier set of quartets, which must have whetted the Parisians' appetite for the composer's visit there) are top-drawer in Telemann 's oeuvre. Channel Classics's recorded sound is fine. Strongly recommended.

[dulcinea]

What does TELEMANN mean? The MANN is obvious, but what is the TELE?
What did Telemann look like? The portraits that I know are rather blurry, making him look like a cross of JSB with GFH.

[ContrapunctusIX]

What does TELEMANN mean? The MANN is obvious, but what is the TELE?
What did Telemann look like? The portraits that I know are rather blurry, making him look like a cross of JSB with GFH.

just because he has that dandy attire and powdered wig doesn't mean he actually looks like JSB and GFH!

[dulcinea]

What does TELEMANN mean? The MANN is obvious, but what is the TELE?
What did Telemann look like? The portraits that I know are rather blurry, making him look like a cross of JSB with GFH.

just because he has that dandy attire and powdered wig doesn't mean he actually looks like JSB and GFH!

There are several paintings of GFH that give a very clear idea of what Handel looked like; are there any painted portraits of GPT, or any written descriptions, at least?