Telemann's 36 Fantasias were printed in 1732-33. The
middle twelve (CD 2) are written in a French style, right down
to the playing directions, and consist of four short slow-fast-slow-fast
movements, whereby the second slow is a compulsory repeat of
the first. All the other Fantasias are in the Italian style,
with a fast-slow-fast scheme, the final movement again being
an obligatory da capo of the first. None of the Italian-style
pieces exceeds five minutes in total, and in those few French
ones that do it is only by seconds.
Essentially semi-Rococo in character, these keyboard Fantasias
make no great demands of the performer or listener, and in terms
of sheer invention do not come close to the 12 Telemann wrote
for solo violin or especially the twelve for solo flute (see
review
of a fine, fairly recent Brilliant release) - all published
within two or three years of each other incidentally, along
with a lost set of 12 for viola da gamba. Within the two types,
the Fantasias are fairly self-similar, adhering closely to Telemann's
straightfoward models. Only a very determined harpsichordist
would sit through nearly three hours in one session, but that
is neither Coen's fault nor Telemann's - the 36
are no end-to-end monolith, but rather a series of attractive
occasional miniatures to be performed at leisure. Yet even an
hour at a time the discerning listener should not succumb to
restlessness - within the constraints of the style, Telemann
typically provides plenty of variety: working through the keys,
alternating major and minor, doing subtle things with texture,
embellishing decorously and shifting pace and mood every minute
or two, with little dances following thoughtful or capricious
passages.
Brilliant do not say, but this is the first commercial recording
of all thirty-six Fantasias. Rather surprisingly, there are
very few recordings of even selections, which makes this something
of a coup for Coen. His harpsichord, a period reproduction,
has an almost fluorescently bright sound and a fairly noisy
action, but Coen, an experienced, insightful instrumentalist
with a profound knowledge of historical performance practice
and a sackful of important recordings under his belt, could
make Telemann sound special even on a typewriter.
In any case, sound and general technical quality are high. The
only noise intrusion, aside from the harpsichord mechanism,
is the occasional and very faint sound of traffic. The English-Italian
booklet notes, furnished by Coen, are brief but well written,
ditto his biography. The three CDs come in a sturdy plastic
jewel case.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Andrea Coen (harpsichord)