Collegium Musicum 90, Simon Standage - Telemann: Ouverture Comique (2000) Hi-Res

Collegium Musicum 90’s sterling work on behalf of Telemann continues with this pleasing selection of five orchestral works, two of which – the Ouverture-Suite in F sharp minor and the Concerto for two Oboes d’amore – are otherwise not currently in the catalogue, and two of which – a violin concerto composed for Pisendel and an Ouverture-Suite in D major – are found there in only one other version. The one relatively well-known work is the lively Concerto for Recorder and Flute, popular no doubt because of its unusual scoring and its finale, one of Telemann’s most irresistibly jaunty ‘Polish’ movements.
The other pieces here are for the most part more conventional, though no less charming for that, the exception being the D major Ouverture-Suite, labelled by Telemann ‘tragi-comique’. What prompted this set of vignettes can only be guessed, but what we get is a depiction of a gout-sufferer, followed by a sequence of remedies ranging from dancing to coach travel to (finally) a visit to a brothel where, no doubt disappointingly for our patient, the rather vigorous treatment lasts less than a minute. This work appeared only last year on a recording by the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, and although their performance is more boisterous, especially in the opening Ouverture, Simon Standage and his players evidently enjoy the pictorial element a little more, not least in some wincingly realistic stabs of gouty pain from the violins.
Overall, Collegium Musicum 90’s performances are uniformly neat, well-turned and tasteful. Their sound is attractively light, delicate and relaxed, and they seem happy to eschew the high-energy approach taken by some continental orchestras in this kind of repertoire. Standage brings a classy elegance and poise to his concerto, and the wind soloists in the other concertos play with commendable nimbleness and clarity. This is not a disc to reach out and grab you, perhaps, but it has its charms; certainly Telemann-lovers need not hesitate to acquire it.