Track Listing

1. Fantasia 1 in B flat
2. Fantasia 2 in G
3. Fantasia 3 in F-minor
4. Fantasia 4 in D
5. Fantasia 5 in A
6. Fantasia 6 in E minor
7. Fantasia 7 in E-flat
8. Fantasia 8 in E
9. Fantasia 9 in B minor
10. Fantasia 10 in D
11. Fantasia 11 in F
12. Fantasia 12 in A minor
13. Gulliver Suite : I Intrada
14. Gulliver Suite : II Chaconne of the Lilliputians
15. Gulliver Suite : III Gigue of the Brobdingngians
16. Gulliver Suite : IV Daydreams of the Laputians and their attendant flappers
17. Gulliver Suite : V Loure of the well-mannered Houyhnhnms & Wild dance of the untamed Yahoos

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165545 in Music
• Released on: 1996-02-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.com
Telemann's musical imagination and inventiveness are astonishing. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific composer in history (over 7,000 pieces!). Yet even when he turned pieces out by the dozen, as he did here, each one had its own character and individual ideas. Andrew Manze plays each one stylishly, although I would no more recommend listening to all of them together than I would advise hearing all of Bach's music for solo violin. Try a few at a time. The little Gulliver Suite, which brings the timing up to 78 minutes, is a charmer. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews

MAGICAL, MYSTICAL, TERRIFIC TELEMANN!
Telemann's Twelve Fantasias extend far beyond the sound worlds of either Bach or Biber in both depth of emotion and an obvious vulnerability. There is little rhetoric here, only a passionate musical intensity that seems to well up from the composer's very soul. Manze, performing on a Gagliano (1783), continually hypnotizes, his violin captured beautifully in an immensely flattering acoustic, never acerbic, but resonating with a tone much richer and darker-hued and "vocal" than is common with period instruments. The Fantasias, themselves, are marvelous, phantasmagorical "inventions" of infinite wonder and design, yet retain a staggering ability to appear completely improvisational. That Manze is committed to these incredible pieces is unquestionable. His playing is simply stunning, without drawing attention to his own phenomenal virtuosity or the extreme difficulties inherent in each Fantasia. The "Gulliver Suite" for two violins (with Caroline Balding playing a 1783 Amati/Cremona), derived, obviously, from Swift's book, is, at just over seven minutes, a pleasant diversion that brings upbeat closure to the CD.

[Running time: 78:18]

A Catalog of Riches
Telemann's 12 Fantasias for solo violin (1735) are intriguingly elusive. Their brief movements offer a whirlwind tour of European manners and styles. The player's resources are laid bare -- no overarching formal design (this isn't Bach), and few openings for virtuosic display.

Andrew Manze is a star of the period-instrument set. Lightning reflexes (and wits) and improvisatory flair are his strengths -- precisely what this music demands. His playing is a catalog of riches. Compare two concluding allegros -- No. 4, with its bustling near-orchestral accompaniment sharply set against the melody, and No. 11, all fantastic lightness. Or the Italianate curves of No. 6's graceful Siciliana. Caroline Balding seconds Manze impeccably in the encore, a playful suite inspired by "Gulliver's Travels."

The sound is typical of Harmonia Mundi's best -- a close, unimpeded perspective, as mellow as it is brilliant.

Love this disk - can hardly get enough of it
This is an extremely enjoyable, listenable disk. I love the Bach solo sonatas but they should not be compared to the Telemann, which is a completely different thing, "easy listening" by comparison and full of memorable tunes. The disk does not wear thin. It's sitting in my car CD player right now and I must have listened to it 25 times and simply haven't been motivated to replace it, because I haven't gotten tired of it!