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Telemann, G.P.: 12 Fantasies for Solo Violin

Telemann, G.P.: 12 Fantasies for Solo Violin

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TELEMANN 12 Fantasies for Solo Violin • Augustin Hadelich (vn) • NAXOS 8.570563 (64:52)


Keith Anderson’s notes to Augustin Hadelich’s release of Telemann’s 12 Fantasies for Solo Violin suggest that the composer wrote these brief works with amateurs and students in mind. Be that as it may, Augustin Hadelich, winner of the 2006 International Violin Competition, makes a case for them as brilliant showpieces, featuring a kind of fluent virtuosity very different from the more crabbed difficulties that stud Bach’s slightly earlier solo works. The first movements of the First Fantasie, in B? Major, encapsulate Hadelich’s general approach to the fantasies: finely tuned sensitivity to dynamic nuance in the opening Largo and almost runaway virtuosity in the ensuing Allegro, with swirling figuration separating patterned, stepwise melodic progressions in the first notes of each group. Hadelich takes care to articulate the moving lines so that Telemann’s underlying patterns become immediately intelligible. Even if, therefore, the fantasies make few strenuous demands on the performer (as few, in fact, as they may on the listener), still, in performances like these, they sound thoroughly engaging, impressively idiomatic, and dashingly brilliant, even when heard seriatim . Hadelich reproduces the gestures that characterize these fantasies as boldly as their style will permit, explicating the rhetorical flair with which Telemann endowed them (perhaps in lieu of contrapuntal complexity). The works remain interesting in the sensitive slow movements, the moderately paced gestural ones, and even in movements like the phosphorescent middle one of the 12th.


Those whose preference for modern instruments might eliminate Andrew Manze’s set (Harmonia Mundi France 907137), which I sent to the head of the class in 19:5, will likely find Hadelich’s readings more probing in the slow movements and less straightforward and deliberate in the fast ones than Angèle Dubeau in her generally engaging readings (Analekta 8708, 17:2), which I preferred to Hans Kalafusz’s (on Intercord 820.740), not to mention the less prepossessing sets by Frederick Sarnau (Gallo 687, 16:1) or Ivan Ženaty (Supraphon 11 14072). Still, those willing to adjust themselves to the analog sound of Arthur Grumiaux’s set (Philips Eloquence 8291, 31:4) may find Grumiaux’s purity, elegance, and authority preferable overall to Hadelich’s more variegated playing. Naxos’s engineers have captured their artist in the reverberant ambiance of St. John Chrysostom Church in Newmarket, Canada. But even for those who might prefer Grumiaux, Hadelich provides a vibrant, exciting alternative viewpoint. Enthusiastically recommended.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham
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Product Description:

  • Release Date: March 31, 2009


  • UPC: 747313056378


  • Catalog Number: 8570563


  • Label: Naxos


  • Number of Discs: 1


  • Composer: G.P., Telemann


  • Performer: Augustin Hadelich