Iona Brown, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields - Telemann: Five Violin Concertos (1984)

Iona Brown, violinist and sometime conductor of the Academy of St. Martin and the fields, clearly understood how different Telemann was from other baroque composers - and what was needed to really bring out his special qualities. Unlike J.S. Bach and Handel, who were keyboard virtuosi, Telemann, who had unusual interest in and an especially keen ear for instrumental sonorities, spent his early years (secretly) learning to play all the instruments available in his time. Despite his prodigious musical gifts, his upper middle class family did not want him pursuing what was then the low occupation of musician. He showed extraordinary skill in orchestral counterpoint, hearing all kinds of new possibilities in melodic, rhythmic and harmonic uses of strings and instrumental combinations. He eschewed the dominance of virtuosic solo style in concerti, preferring to have soloists interact with various instruments in the baroque orchestra.

There are a couple of jarring blue notes in Brown's solo performance. This suggested that the recording was a one-off without repeats to clean up mistakes or infelicities. However she is one of the first ensemble leaders to employ the all the orchestral instruments as though they were all co-principals interacting creatively creatively with the soloist.

Prior to this recording most baroque performances I heard (especially of Vivaldi) tended to mike up the soloist in concertos, relegating the orchestra t "tutti" status except when the soloist was silent. Under Brown's leadership all the strings had to be on their best behavior, sensitive and clear in sound, precise in entrances and handling of dynamics. Each of the 4 Telemann concerti in this album (the fifth, No 11, was formerly assumed to be by Telemann, but later attributed to a little-known German Rococo composer, glow gem-like in perfection. In some period performances the celli and basses grunt along gruffly in the background. Not in this recording. The lower strings get proper attention and their notes deserve to be heard in full clarity. Telemann prided himself (according to his 1717 autobiographical sketch) in taking the continuo part out of its normal subordinate status and giving it a full role in chamber music and concerti.

While the nominal technical demands of Telemann's violin concerti are modest - the demands for musicality and sensitivity are very high for ensemble as well as the soloist. Telemann does not write music that can almost "play itself" in the manner of J.S. Bach (a logical outcome of his preference for linear counterpoint). T. requires sensitivity and creativity on the part of the performer. it's from this recording I understood for the first time why some performances of Telemann could raise the roof for audiences, while others sounded just like any other baroque music. These concerti, done sensitively by Iona Brown and her ensemble, are alternately playful, melancholy, bright and bold, never predictable or dull. However, with performers who have skills but but not sensitivity, like Elizabeth Wallfisch whose "complete Telemann violin concerti" I describe in a review for Volume 1, they can fail to deliver what is in them.