Telemann: Voyageur Virtuose

アンサンブル・アマリリスが魅せる
テレマンの華やかな技巧!

旅するヴィルトゥオーゾ、とはテレマンのこと。テレマンは様々な地に旅をし、様々な音楽を貪欲に吸収しました。ここに収録されている「音楽の練習帳」は、1740年にテレマン自身が出版した作品集。12のソロ・ソナタと12のトリオ・ソナタ(6つの異なる楽器-リコーダー、ヴァイオリン、オーボエ、フラウト・トラヴェルソ、ヴィオラ・ダ・ガンバ、チェンバロ-を想定して書かれている)が収められています。当盤ではオーボエのための2作とリコーダーのための2作が収録されています。
キングインターナショナル

The young French historical-instrument ensemble Amarillis is touted (or touts itself) as a successor to groups involving the reigning giants of the French early music scene, and it succeeds (unlike some of its Netherlandish contemporaries) in crafting a sound that diverges considerably from that of its mentors. The "virtuoso traveler" reference in the album's title merely indicates Telemann's peripatetic career and not the early stirrings of exotic national flavors heard in some of his music -- the program consists mostly of trio sonatas from much-recorded Essercizii Musici of 1740. The aims of this performance are stated by artistic director Heloise Gaillard in her booklet notes (in French and English): "Telemann's skillful balance between the two treble parts prompted us to work at our phrasing," she writes. "[H]ow could we make two instruments with sonorities as dissimilar as the oboe and the harpsichord or the recorder and the violin answer one another with the same eloquence?" The musicians choose to treat Telemann almost as a forerunner of the Classical sound ideal of chamber music, with an equal balance among the instruments, and they not only try to shape the balance between the melody parts carefully but also assign quite a bit of weight to the continuo. The approach reveals plenty of surprises lurking in Telemann's interior lines. The level of detail is heightened by an unusual degree of improvised ornamentation. No doubt what Amarillis does can be justified by citing chapter and verse in a treatise somewhere, and by Telemann's own designation of these works as "exercises" -- much of the rest of his music is of a distinctly amateur cast technically. But at times it seems a bit much, as when Gaillard, playing recorder and oboe, adds a little ornament to cadential tones. The music may be a bit cluttered for some tastes, but it may also grow on those who hear it. The sound environment, a French castle, results in natural chamber dimensions that perfectly express what the musicians are trying to do. This is a fresh entry in the increasingly crowded field of Telemann small-ensemble recordings, with a cover design that's as fanciful and fun as the contents within.