''A Legend Reborn'' is how Teldec have advertised the admirable relaunch of their Das Alte Werk label. Judging by the first batch of re-releases at mid-price, one would be hard-pushed to find a more apt logo. One or two performances show their age in ways which seem untenable now (Harnoncourt's Messiah for instance, 3/86), but others, many of which are included here, provide the rudest possible awakening that showing one's age is no bad thing. The most riveting example of this is displayed in a disc of Bach cantatas conducted by Karl Richter (5/93). Whilst others in the Das Alte Werk series have reappeared over the years, this recording represents the discovery of lost treasure, laid to rest by all and sundry until now.
A more established Bach recording is Harnoncourt's first set of Brandenburg Concertos on period instruments dating from 1964. Teldec and Harnoncourt embarked on a similar project in 1981, one which could boast a more luminous sound quality and better standards of wind playing, but not altogether more persuasive readings. Poignant attachments to recordings one grew up with can lead to miscalculation, but I know of few more engaging first movements of No. 3 and not one version of No. 6 which so lovingly draws the listener into the secret motivic associations of this most marvellous of consort pieces. The other concertos have fewer timeless qualities; Harnoncourt takes a rather morose view of Nos. 1 and 2 and Nos. 4 and 5 do not compete with either the 1981 recording or any of the half a dozen or so outstanding releases since. The set taken as a whole, however, contains less of the obstrusive mannerisms which have blighted some aspects of Harnoncourt's later performances and the transfers are good.
Staying with the Bach family, Carl Philipp Emanuel's sets of Prussian and Wurttemberg Sonatas played by Bob van Asperen typify why back catalogues are as important as ever; not only have these veracious performances of the earlier Prussian Sonatas never reached these shores before, but neither of these sets are currently available complete, nor did they appear as such in Capriccio's C. P. E. Bach Edition. I would endorse SS's comments on the Wurttemburg Sonatas in his 1979 review. It certainly is ''playing of the utmost brilliance'' and van Asperen rarely misses a trick in communicating Bach's variegated style with exuberance and refinement. Such qualities abound too in the dazzling Concerto per il Cembalo Solo, an original 'filler'—in both senses—for the Prussian LP set. The recorded sound is suitably clear and fresh throughout.
Maintaining family ties, Telemann is served here as well as his godson. Der Tag des Gerichts (''The Day of Judgement'') is a fine oratorio by anyone's standards and Harnoncourt's important recording (still the only one) is a must for those who admire Telemann's enlightened and sophisticated response to dramatic texts. This is not a first appearance on CD format but its attractive coupling with the majesterial cantata, Ino, is especially imaginative since these two works arguably represent the octogenerian Telemann's most delectable valedictions. The performances are equal to almost everything in these vital and rapturous scores. Twenty-two years separate the recordings of the two works, revealing the remarkable consistency with which Harnoncourt's limpid sense of enactment has been pursued.
The harpsichordist, Bob van Asperen, features strongly again in one of the two French releases, a compilation from three separately-issued LPs of Pieces en trio by Marin Marais. Overall, I found these the least satisfying discs in this batch, despite some arresting moments in the final suite including a notable Chaconne. The music is eloquently shaped and pleasing in its graceful contours but played here in a rather relentless manner. The lack of tonal colour, partly caused by the singular timbre of the recorders over a long period, is quickly remedied in Rameau's Pieces de clavecin en concerts. These are delightful works and tackled robustly by a quartet, three of whom are now eminent directors in the world of 'historically-aware' performance. Textural variety and 'delicatesse' in matters of phrasing are not in question here, but the recorded sound does not allow for the clearest definition of instrumental timbre except in the case of Leonhardt's bracing harpsichord. For the ideal blend, described by Rameau in his preface, one must turn to Christophe Rousset's latest recording (Decca, 12/91).
A thoroughly democratic balance of forces is evident in ''Music at the Court of Mannheim'', a distinct and adventurous foray into early classical repertoire heralding Harnoncourt's debut recording for Teldec; a legendary career itself was born in the alert strains of these pioneering works. Documentation is outstanding throughout except, strangely, in this last disc where it would have been particularly useful to have had information on Holzbauer and Richter. A small complaint given the extent of the strong recommendations here.'