“Triple Concertos” is as good a title for a Telemann disc as any I suppose, even if the link is more numerological than musical. In this case it means (not surprisingly for anyone used to Telemann) that in the space of four concertos we get considerable variety, with soloists ranging from a flute to a fat-sounding group of oboes and from a cello to a viola d’amore. The cheerful Concerto for three oboes and three violins has been recorded before, but it is certainly worthy of another outing, even if this latest one is not quite as robust as those under Harnoncourt (Telefunken, 7/67 – nla) and Goebel. The excellent Concerto for flute, violin and cello is another of those fascinating compositions in which Telemann shows how up-to-date he could be, not at all the old baroque wig some people suppose him to have been; its first movement is as charmingly galant in its way as anything by J. C. Bach, and there is an irresistible episode with pizzicato accompaniment in the second. After that comes a less interesting concerto for three violins, though nevertheless a beguiling one in the Vivaldi mould, but the disc finishes with another gem: a composer like Telemann doesn’t write for the combination of flute, oboe d’amore and viola d’amore by accident, and in the concerto recorded here (also available on modern instruments by Sarah Francis and the London Harpsichord Ensemble) he shows just how well aware of the particular qualities of those instruments he is, above all in a ravishingly beautiful opening Andante.
As usual, Collegium Musicum 90 play with intelligence and skill, if not with any great body or weight. Among the soloists I especially enjoyed Rachel Brown and some suave oboe d’amore playing from Anthony Robson. As with their last Telemann concerto recording (7/94), I did detect some unsteadiness in tempo, most notably where tuttis pick up after solos. Those interested in composer portraits who may be excited by Chandos’s inclusion of what appears to be a hitherto unknown engraving of Telemann can sit down again though; somehow or other Leclair’s picture has got in by mistake.'