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Telemann: Festive Cantatas

The three works here (all in world modern premiere recordings) come from the cycle that Telemann published for 1748–49, the so-called “Engel-Jahrgang” to texts by Erdmann Neumeister, all following a five-movement pattern: chorus, aria, recitative, aria and chorus/chorale.

Miriam Feuersinger, Franz Vitzthum, Klaus Mertens ScTB/Bar, Collegium vocale Siegen, Hannoversche Hofkapelle, Ulrich Stötzel
58:04
hänssler Classic CD 98.047
TVWV 1: 243, 284 & 413

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he three works here (all in world modern premiere recordings) come from the cycle that Telemann published for 1748–49, the so-called “Engel-Jahrgang” to texts by Erdmann Neumeister, all following a five-movement pattern: chorus, aria, recitative, aria and chorus/chorale. The first cantata on the disc Der Herr lebet for Easter Sunday shares the spoils between the three soloists, while in the others, Ehr und Dank sey Dir gesungen for Michaelmas and Der Geist giebt Zeugnis for Whitsun, the central movements are all for solo bass and alto respectively. Of the three cantatas, the last was my favourite, especially the second of the arias, “Geist des Trostes und der Gnade”, in which the soloist is not only accompanied by the strings but also by the two trumpets and timpani that feature in all the cantatas of the set. The choir sing well, but the booklet does not list names, so it is impossible to say how many are on each voice; nor are the players named. The texts are laid out alongside a nice English translation, but it is a pity that the Biblical quotes are printed as pseudo poetry, while the verse patterns of the arias are obscured by arbitrary line breaks. It is a pity, too, that there is not more music for Miriam Feuersinger, as she has a lovely voice for this repertoire. This is the second Telemann recording from these forces; I hope there will be more!

Brian Clark

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