Telemann: Passion Cantatas

Accademia Daniel, Ad-El, Shalev, Mertens, Klaus

CPO 777299

Der am Ölberg zagende Jesus deals with Christ’s agonies in the garden of Gethsemane, with three recitatives setting the scene surrounding two arias for Jesus, ending with an aria by the narrator inviting all to contemplate Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus liegt in letzten Zügen is a meditation on the moment of Christ’s death. Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen expresses the narrator’s desire to follow the way of the cross in Christ’s footsteps. The other two cantatas are more tangentially connected to the events of the passion, although they mention the passion as motivation for the sinner to prepare for eventual union with his Savior. All of these works demonstrate Telemann’s inventiveness and unfailing gift of melody. Where appropriate, Telemann adds illustrative touches such as at the text “when a harsh wind blows” (tr. 25). The orchestration is basically strings and oboes, with bassoon and keyboard added to the basso continuo , and occasional coloring from flute or recorder. All appear to be recording premieres.• The performances are very good. Klaus Mertens is well known in the early-music field and has contributed to many recordings of Baroque music. His work here is up to his own high standards. I was not previously acquainted with the work of Israeli conductor and keyboardist Shalev Ad-El. His work here is good; the performances are reasonably paced, and everything flows smoothly. The conductor is the music director of the Israeli period-instrument group Accademia Daniel, which plays these works one player to a part.

CD x 1

CPO

1/30/18

761203729920