Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Kantaten – Französicher Jahrgang 1714/1715, Vol. 2
Gutenburg Soloists, Neumeyer Consort / Felix Koch
rec. November-December 2021, SWR Studio Kaiserslautern, Germany
cpo 555437-2 [2 CDs: 133]
In a career that spanned 75 years, Georg Philipp Telemann composed over 3600 works, including around 1700 cantatas, and was among the most highly regarded composers of his generation. Admirers of Telemann’s music included his friends Georg Friedrich Händel and Johann Sebastian Bach, who chose him to be the godfather of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. It is ironic that the revival of Bach’s music in the 19th century did not help Telemann’s posthumous reputation. A handful of Telemann’s works have been recorded by major labels (e.g., the complete Tafelmusik by Musica Antiqua Köln under the direction of Reinhard Goebel on Archiv Produktion), but these are few in comparison to those of popular Baroque composers, such as Antonio Vivaldi, Händel, and Bach.
The nine cantatas on these discs were long believed to date from 1714–1715, near the beginning of Telemann’s tenure in Frankfurt, but recent scholarship has shown that he first performed them a year earlier, while still employed in Eisenach. The title of this cycle of 72 ‘French’ cantatas refers to influences, especially that of Jean-Baptiste Lully, on the compositional style Telemann used, including the rondeau.
According to the conductor, Felix Koch, as cited in the booklet, this series of recordings will be the first to encompass all of the cantatas in Telemann’s ‘French’ cycle. Each cantata is performed by a choir of twelve singers into which the soloists are integrated, so that their individual voices emerge during arias. The ensemble and choir mix Baroque specialists with young musicians, thus combining expertise with fresh perspectives. As a result, the set under consideration (Volume 2) is excellent in that the playing and singing are informed by the latest scholarship and simultaneously invigorating. The recorded sound is crisp, clear, and detailed while retaining a sense of warmth that may be provided by the studio acoustic, which is less reverberant than most churches.
These cantatas reveal Telemann’s remarkable consistency for such prolific output in one year. Recordings face the challenge of presenting cantatas back-to-back denuded of their liturgical context. Telemann integrated these compositions into ‘Gottesdienst’, usually on Sundays, in which the sung texts related to the topic of the sermon and biblical readings that corresponded to specific events in the church year. One way to study this repertoire is by listening to one or two cantatas at a time and focusing on the sung texts; reading passages in the Bible that correspond to each cantata provides insight into Erdmann Neumeister’s libretti.
Record companies should follow the high presentation standard that CPO has set with this release. The discs are housed in a two-CD case with a 72-page book that includes informative introductory essays and the sung texts in German with English translations, as well as an attractive cover illustration of Eisenach. This is exactly the kind of packaging that makes a physical product worth owning. Anyone interested in 18th-century music will find this set a rewarding purchase. I look forward to the remainder of the cycle.
Daniel Floyd
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Performers:
Sabine Goetz (Soprano 1)
Julie Grutzka (Soprano 2)
Lieselotte Fink (Alto 1)
Luca Segger (Alto 2)
Fabian Kelly (Tenor 1)
Hans Jörg Mammel (Tenor 2)
Hans Christoph Begemann (Bass 1)
Gotthold Schwarz (Bass 2)
Contents:
Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten TVWV 1: 1593 (Laetare)
Unschuld und ein gut Gewissen TVWV 1: 1440 (Oculi)
Christ ist erstanden TVWV 1: 1136 (1. Ostertag)
Und sie redeten miteinander TVWV 1: 1438 (2. Ostertag)
Jesus Christus, unser Heiland TVWV 1: 976 (3. Ostertag)
Wertes Zion, sei getrost TVWV 1: 1606 (23. Sonntag nach Trinitatis)
Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt TVWV 1: 874 (24. Sonntag nach Trinitatis)
Wir liegen, großer Gott, vor dir TVWV 1: 1668 (22. Sonntag nach Trinitatis)
Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt TVWV 1: 876 (24. Sonntag nach Trinitatis)
