Telemann: Twelve Fantasias for Violin Solo; Gulliver Suite for Two Violins

Editorial Reviews
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

Tracks:

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

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:

Depth Music.......2007-07-23

If you ever listenned telemann's tafelmusik, I believe you would know what I mean. In past experenice, telemann was often argued lack of depth, and was famous of easygoing music, at least comparied with Bach. However, telemann fantasias had been changed my image, it is a depth music, especial heard other his music. I don't think its value is lower than Bach uncompanied solo violin music.
Of course maybe it's Manze's technique give me this feeling, but finally, I could say I must reknow telemann and it's Manze's contribution. I recommand it to all.

Dissapointing performance.......2007-03-29

This smart and beautiful music for solo violin deserves a better performance. I don't like the weak projection and the
very tiny sound of Manze. Occasionaly there are too wide volume differences between the tracks. Clearly Manze has admirers. I am not one of them.

Four Gut Strings, Unaccompanied.......2006-07-11

These fantasias for unaccompanied violin by Telemann are solidly in the tradition of German polyphonic/chordal solo string music (for example, the Bach violin Sonatas and Partitas). Often in such music one's interest is held by the sheer textural legerdemain of composer and performer - the marvel of one ostensibly monophonic instrument creating the illusion of multiple voices. There is a whole baroque cosmos contained in these little pieces, a grand tour of baroque affects and styles from learned to GALANT: graceful sicilianas alternate with austere SONATA DA CHIESA-like movements, and quasi-fugal pieces are followed fast on the heels by gauche country-fiddle dances. Andrew Manze, the baroque violin superstar of our time, finds miles of expressiveness and wit in what seems on the page to be plain and conventional baroque rhetoric. His playing is sparkling and nimble. His astounding technique is married to a beautiful CANTABILE tone, a bold sense of fantasy and humor, and a sure feeling for the structure, timing, and placement of the tiny movements that make up the fantasias. This is an extravaganza not to be missed by any fans of baroque violin playing.

scraping the surface.......2005-12-22

Andrew Manze's playing, hailed by petty music critics all over the world as witty and brilliant, blah blah blah, certainly falls flat here. Yes, he's got chops, and he's made it his admirable quest to record everything under the sun, but these beatiful and fun (yes, fun!) Fantasias are rich with rhetorical sentiment, and Manze breezes mechanically and monotonously. If you're a Manze fan already, of course you're going to love this CD. You'll also love it if you have no idea what "rhetorical sentiment" is. However, if you know anything about early music or prefer other things to eat besides vanilla pudding, you may not want to waste your money. I wish one day we could live in a world where recording companies record good music, not just flashy names.

A Catalog of Riches.......2001-11-07

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.

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