... It's a special recording, and a special artist, that provides such thorough detail for the listener and, better still, gives credit to such beautiful (and still playable) historical instruments.  Both the musicality demonstrated on the recording and for it being a "historical document of sound", this disc is highly recommended.
-Karen Cook
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Recordings of Telemann’s set of 12 Fantasias
for unaccompanied transverse flute or
recorder just keep coming.
This is the latest on recorder. I have liked
Dan Laurin on BIS (675; not reviewed), Sabrina
Frey on Novalis (150 186: M/A 2008), and Erik
Bosgraaf on Brilliant (93757: J/F 2009); and the
first two had thoughtful, fully inflected playing.
In this newest recording, Abreu is closer to
Bosgraaf, offering straightforward if virtuosic
interpretations.
Frey and Bosgraaf, while using two or three
different instruments to accommodate different
keys, chose to transpose keys from the
ones Telemann used in his 1735 publication—
altering the calculated sequence of ascending
tonalities for the collection. Like Laurin, Abreu
honors the original keys. But he also has a
rather special agenda.
This release is a kind of showcase for the
remarkable resources of instrument maker
and collector Friedrich von Huene. Abreu has
a choice among instruments of different
ranges (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and also
among the products of many classic instrument
makers. He employs a total of nine
instruments, by Johann Christoph Denner
(c.1655-1707), Peter Bressan (1663-1731),
Thomas Boekhout (1666-1715), Thomas
Stanesby Jr (c.1690-1754), Georg Heinrich
Scherer (1703-78), and Von Huene himself—
who also restored some of the others. Some of
these instruments are unique in construction
and sound—notably the bass recorder by
Boekhout, with wonderfully clattery keys. Not
every ear will register all the distinctions, but
recorder enthusiasts and experts will find
comparing all these instruments quite fascinating.
Recordings of this set invariably add filler
material, whether by Telemann or by contemporaries.
Abreu has sensibly chosen a familiar
concerto by Telemann, in E minor, for
recorder, flute, strings, and continuo, allowing
himself and Suzanne Stumpf to play on a nicely
matched pair of ivory instruments by Scherer.
An ensemble of six period players, one per
part, offers intimate collaboration. And, as
encores of a kind, Abreu plays two short unaccompanied
pieces by Quantz and Pepusch on
an alto recorder by Denner.
Clean sound; outstanding booklet notes on
the music and the instruments.
BARKER
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Having seen a concert in Boston premiering this music before listening to the album, I was suspended in time by the thrillin' & chillin' talents of Aldo Abreu. Each ancient recorder he brought forth from the exquisite Von Huene Collection offered a different richness and warmth. His extraordinary talent coaxed these original instruments to release their inner zen through the varied Telemann pieces, as well as several other works. A tremendous pleasure! Now, having spent time with the album, I must add this is one of the most exquisite and fascinating pieces of solo classical repertoire from the Middle Ages i have heard in quite a while. Bravo Aldo!!!
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This CD is exquisitely beautiful from beginning to end.  Aldo Abreu is a virtuoso, and the Telemann pieces are all fantastic compositions--95% of the CD is solo performance on recorders with no accompaniment.  The tones are full, rich, haunting.  But more than this, the CD is a historical record of a wonderful collection of antique recorders (some 300+ years old), each with its own unique sound and story. This is quite a special CD and I encourage anyone even slightly interested to buy it...you'll be glad you did!
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