Customer Reviews

Six Sonatas for two Flutes, Op. 2

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Telemann wrote this music in 1727 and designated it for 2 transverse flutes or 2 violins, or 2 recorders. In this recording we here the 2 flutes version. I can't emphasize enough how exceptionally crisp and clear this recording is. Once again, the Naxos lable impresses me. When you have this CD playing, it's almost as if the American Baroque were in the room with you doing a live performance. As for the music, it's simply charming and delightful, especially if you love the sound of the flute. As typical of the Baroque chamber sonata, alot of these pieces follow a dance rhythm and develop with contrapuntal imitations and variations. But it is remarkable how varied each of these sonatas are, given the limitations of their composition. Few Baroque composers could create such music and still have each movement sound so fresh and different. Bach and Vivaldi's flute sonatas are sublime, but these of Telemann are not to be overlooked. If you're looking for a beginning recording of Telemann's Op. 2 start here. Can't beat the price either for 68 minutes of beautiful flute duets : )

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767): Six Sonatas for Two Flutes, Op. 2. Performed by Stephen Schultz and Mindy Rosenfeld, baroque flutes. Recorded at the Regents' Theatre, Holy Names College, Oakland, California in January 1997. Published 1998 as Naxos 8.554132. Total playing time: 67'50".

Stephen Schultz and Mindy Rosenfeld from San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra here give an enchanting performance of Telemann's Opus 2 sonatas, which he himself intended either as exercise material for musical amateurs wanting to practise duets or as duet material for lovers of fine music who just didn't have anybody else to play with at the time! But with a performance as brilliant as this, and with music so eminently pretty as this, there is no feeling whatsoever that anything is missing. The six sonatas consist of four movements each, slow - fast - slow - fast, with contrapuntal imitation, dance rhythms and everything else one can expect from high baroque chamber music. Wonderful stuff, made just right by both the skill and musicality of the performers and the excellence of the Naxos engineering which places the performers clearly in the room. And if you enjoy this, you might go on to try Telemann's 12 Fantasias for Solo Flute (Telemann: Twelve Fantasias for Transverse Flute or Telemann: Twelve fantasias for flute without bass), an equally breathtaking experience.