The varied forces of Georg Philipp Telemann's instrumental music require a flexible ensemble to give a sense of the music's range. In this case, two German historical-instrument ensembles, La Stagione Frankfurt and the veteran Camerata Köln, join forces for a set of concertos with a delightfully varied set of soloists. This music has the odd combination of lightness and unorthodoxy that tends to either attract or repel those who listen to Telemann. The concertos, in three or four Italianate movements, are among his most progressive works, none more so than the Concerto in D major for two horns, strings, and continuo, TWV 52:D1, where the continuity of Baroque texture breaks up entirely: at one point the horns seem to inhabit their own stately sphere as the strings pause to let them pass. But each of the concertos has moments as unusual, if not quite as dramatic. Perhaps the massing of the two groups led to a somewhat deadpan performance in which the sharper edges of each group were filed off, but this is to the good in Telemann, whose work was meant for the common run of players; you don't want to hear the players competing with the little surprises in the music. Both the technical level of the playing and the sound are fine, and any Baroque listener will have a good time with this disc and its volume-one companion.
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