Select a month

Back to The Archives

Monthly Archive: February 2022

Georg Philipp Telemann: Viola Concertos – Antoine Tamestit (viola) & Akadamie für Alte Musik Berlin – Harmonia Mundi

Georg Philipp Telemann: Viola Concertos – Antoine Tamestit (viola) & Akadamie für Alte Musik Berlin – Harmonia Mundi

by | Feb 18, 2022 | Classical CD Reviews

Georg Philipp Telemann: Viola Concertos: Overtures: Fantasias – Antoine Tamestit (viola) & Akadamie für Alte Musik Berlin – Harmonia Mundi 902342 – 1/2022 : 68:28:  ****½  In the 40 years I have been seriously listening to classical music and following the scene, I have noticed a shift in the overall position of the composer G. F. Telemann. He has steadily nudged his way forward, passing the likes of Corelli and Vivaldi and then finally also Handel and now occupies the seat adjacent to Bach, his contemporary rival. This is not because Telemann has been generally acknowledged to be superior to those baroque greats (although this could be reasonably asserted). It is rather an artifact of the recording industry finally coming to terms with his vast output with a steadily increasing number of releases that highlight not only finest and well-known works but his many achievements in every genre of instrumental writing, some of it rather on the periphery of the 18th century style.  Telemann wrote for just about every instrument. In fact I think of him more in terms of instrumental combinations than style, Woodwinds, horns, violins, recorders, oboes. He explored effects such as the triangle, the castanets and the […]