René Jacobs & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin - Telemann: Cantaten & Odes (1991)

Capriccio's Telemann: Cantatas & Odes finds illustrious countertenor René Jacobs estranged from his established home base of Harmonia Mundi and seeming a little like a fish out of water. Joining Jacobs on this soft adventure is the Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin, providing a very restrained -- even hesitant -- performance as his backing group in a program of some of Telemann's vocal music; three cantatas, adapted from their highly condensed published editions; two odes (for Telemann, the equivalent of an art song); and an aria taken from the opera Eginhard. The whole is preceded by an Adagio movement borrowed from the Concerto for 2 oboes, violin & strings in E minor TWV 53:e2, perched like a cherry on top. While the music may all be Telemann, the show is definitely Jacobs', and by focusing on works that Telemann designed with amateurs in mind, Jacobs sets himself out on a path of vocal glory that is unlikely to be obstructed by the requirements of the composer. On the other hand, Jacobs sounds a bit overqualified in this material, intended by Telemann to be plain and ingratiating. If you like René Jacobs' singing, Capriccio's Telemann: Cantatas & Odes is OK, but a bit mediocre overall, and if you are a Telemann fan, it probably won't do very much for you. -- Uncle Dave Lewis