The disc begins with Telemann’s cantata “Am Sonntage Judica” for solo soprano, and besides the extremely high caliber of the writing (its lovely melodies are the equal of many of Bach’s works in the genre), you’ll certainly notice the performance of Olga Pasiecznik, who has the voice of an angel and the musicality–phrasing, feeling, dynamic shading, the whole works–and artistic intelligence to totally command the attention of even the unenlightened few who still think of Telemann as a second-tier composer. After two more almost-as-interesting cantatas sung by the somewhat less-than-angelic alto Ewa Mikulska (she has the annoying habit of swallowing her lower-register notes and weirdly covering the rest), Pasiecznik returns for the program’s closer, a very lively work that demands considerable vocal agility and energy, which this singer generously and confidently supplies.
Yes, Telemann was not the equal of Bach, but in his enormous output (several dozen operas and passions, nearly a dozen oratorios, and hundreds of instrumental pieces and cantatas) lie many gems, of which a number are certainly masterpieces worthy of consideration next to those of Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi. And although these four cantatas may not be among his finest pieces, they remind us that we are listening to the work of a composer of extraordinary stature who was able to easily bring Baroque ideas of form and structure together with some of the more refined elements of the emerging Classical style. The singers receive very competent and well-balanced support from their instrumental partners, all of which is complemented by a warm, pleasingly resonant acoustic. Unfortunately, this otherwise fine production by Polish label Dux doesn’t provide texts for or information about the individual cantatas, and leaves non-Polish readers (and reviewers) to guess as to the translation of instrument names such as “skrzypce”, “wiolonczela”, and “pozytyw”.
