Telemann was a prolific
composer who wrote a large number of
concertos for individual instruments
and for various interesting combinations
of them. It is therefore not surprising
that some of these have yet to find
their way onto disc – the six concertos
for two flutes given here are billed
as world premières. It is not
known precisely when they were written
but in the booklet Stephen Zohn implies
that they probably derived from his
period in Frankfurt (1712-1721). He
also suggests that a comment made by
Telemann relating to "concertos
that smell of France" could be
applicable to these works. The original
instrumentation included an accompanying
mandora – a six stringed bass lute –
an instrument Telemann himself played.
That part is here given on the bassoon,
which seems to have been regarded as
a legitimate alternative at the time.
All six concertos are
in four movements with a slow-fast-slow-fast
pattern. The initial slow movements
are not mere introductions and tend
to be as long as the other movements.
Playing on period instruments and following
contemporary practice of a single stringed
instrument per part, the flutes of John
Solum and Richard Wyton and the US-based
Hanoverian Ensemble make a good case
for resurrecting them. They create an
intimate atmosphere and some of the
faster music is attractive. Overall,
however, I do not feel these are among
Telemann’s most inventive works although
their merits become more evident with
repeated listening. I have no complaints
about the recorded sound and the documentation
is satisfactory apart from the use of
rather small print for listing the tracks
and very small print for the recording
details and engineering credits.
By way of an aside,
I wasn’t previously aware of the TWV
numbering system for Telemann’s works.
Assuming they are given correctly in
the booklet and back-liner of this disc,
I find it surprising that TWV 53:A1
and TWV 53:a1 should be used to designate
different concertos. Some of these systems
seem to be unnecessarily confusing compared
to, say, Deutsch’s Schubert catalogue.
This disc is probably
not the place to start collecting Telemann
concertos. For that I suggest you try
the oboe concertos played by Sarah Francis
on Regis. Nevertheless, lovers of the
baroque flute and "Telemaniacs"
will wish to investigate these well-played
world premières.
Patrick C Waller
John Solum and Richard Wyton (flutes) 
for details
