Sunday 29 October 2017

Telemann - Fantasias for Viola da Gamba - Smith


Rating: 5/5

Review:
A fine recording



This is a fine recording.  These gamba sonatas by Telemann were only rediscovered in 2015, and Robert Smith is one of the first to release a recording of them.  In fact, I heard Paolo Pandolfo's slightly more recent recording first and was so taken with the music that I wanted to hear what another gambist made of them.  I'm very gad I did, because Smith's is beautifully played interpretation.

Telemann's music is very good indeed.  What I said of it in my review of Pandolfo's recording still applies: "Anyone who still believes the old canard that Telemann was a superficial composer of baroque wallpaper need only to listen to the opening Fantasia in C minor here to have that firmly dispelled. Telemann may not have been another Bach, but then nobody ever has been; he was a fine composer in his own right and all of these are works of depth, thoughtfulness and real compositional skill. The minor-key Fantasias are especially fine, I think, with a genuine intellectual and spiritual weight. They are a delight to listen to."

They are an especial delight in Robert Smith's hands.  I hadn't heard him play before, but he is a very fine gambist with a beautiful tone, excellent technique and an expressive feel for what he is playing.  His approach is a little more restrained and less flamboyant that Pandolfo's (as is most people's) and I like both very much.  Smith gives these works depth and dignity, but they still dance and have plenty of that Telemann charm where appropriate.  The recorded sound is excellent with a good balance of clarity and resonance in the acoustic, so the overall sound is fabulous.

With Smith's thoughtful notes and very attractive presentation this is a very fine release all round and warmly recommended.

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