The CPO label's series of Telemann wind concertos under German conductor Michael Schneider reaches its fifth volume with this release. How many Telemann wind concertos there are in all depends on whom you ask, but it would seem that there are enough for at least one more album. Despite the volume of the task, these releases have been consistently enjoyable, and this one has the added advantage of being devoted entirely to a single ensemble, La Stagione Frankfurt. (Earlier releases alternated between that group and Camerata ...
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The CPO label's series of Telemann wind concertos under German conductor Michael Schneider reaches its fifth volume with this release. How many Telemann wind concertos there are in all depends on whom you ask, but it would seem that there are enough for at least one more album. Despite the volume of the task, these releases have been consistently enjoyable, and this one has the added advantage of being devoted entirely to a single ensemble, La Stagione Frankfurt. (Earlier releases alternated between that group and Camerata Köln.) On audition here are six concertos, all for different combinations of solo and grouped winds, including one for the novel configuration of two horns and two oboes (the horns are silent in the slow movement). All of the instrumental writing is flattering and idiomatic, and some of the finales are plenty challenging for the soloists. The greatest interest perhaps lies not even in the instrumental idiom, but in the endlessly inventive ways in which Telemann riffs off the models...
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