La Stagione Frankfurt - Telemann: Wind Concertos, Vol. 3 (2008)

These are exciting times for lovers of Telemann’s orchestral music. Brilliant is engaged in a project to record all of the overtures, and this recording from cpo is the third volume of a projected complete recording of the wind concertos, which number more than 100. Telemann wrote wind concertos for up to four solo instruments. A majority of the concertos (including all but one on this recording) are in four movements, usually slow-fast-slow-fast format, though there are many in the Italian three-movement style of fast-slow-fast.

The Piccolo Concerto opens with a delightful siciliano movement labeled “Napolitana,” which is followed by two tuneful Allegro movements separated by a short Largo. Although it is hard to date most of these works, the Oboe Concerto and the Trumpet Concerto are probably the earliest works on this disc. The Trumpet Concerto is undoubtedly the most popular of Telemann’s concertos, with 25 versions listed at arkivmusic.com. All of these works are highly inventive and often include dance-inspired movements.

The playing of both the chamber orchestra La Stagione Frankfurt and the six-member Camerata Köln is accurate, lively, and equal to the standards we have come to expect of the best period-instrument groups. The two groups share personnel, and members of the ensembles are the soloists, all playing expertly and with flare and precision. Michael Schneider does double duty as conductor of La Stagione Frankfurt and as soloist in TWV 42:F14 (recorder) and 53:G1 (flute). Comparison of these performances to similar recordings by Musica Antiqua Köln and The Academy of Ancient Music demonstrated once again, though the demonstration was hardly necessary, how well these groups play. All of the performances are on the same high plain. The main difference is in the somewhat richer sound of The Academy of Ancient Music, with its larger group of strings, especially compared to Camerata Köln’s total of five string-players.

It is probable that some of these works are making their first appearance on disc. It is difficult to be certain because some contents listings do not include catalog numbers, making it hard to determine which of several similarly named works in the same key are contained on other recordings. My only complaint about this release concerns the short playing time; there is room on the disc for a couple more concertos. I enjoyed this disc very much and look forward eagerly to further releases in the series.