Telemann:Tafelmusik (Complete) [Box Set]

Customer Rating:
Summary: Utterly brilliant music
Comment: For those of you who like or, as I do, love Baroque music it doesn't get better than this. If you have not gotten past the three giants of Baroque---Bach, Handel and Vivaldi---it is time you discovered the magic of the most prolific of them all---Telemann. I have a great deal of Telemann's music, up until now only vocal music, many cantatas and a couple of delightful operas. Now I am into Telemann's instrumental music and have acquired quite a few CDs. I think his Tafelmusik is the best. But truly I don't think he ever wrote a bad note. Everything he wrote has a certain spirit, a joie de vivre. This set is ridiculously cheap and I heartily recommend it.

Customer Rating:
Summary: A complete and utter STEAL!
Comment: The price has apparently risen since the last review, but it's still a steal! The performance is on period instruments. Several recordings here are among the best out there, such as the first Quator (much sweeter than the well-known Musica Antiqua Koln issue), and all three overtures are well done. This is a very competitive set.

For a moment, I'd like to address the place of Telemann in music. So often he is denigrated in favor of other composers. I will admit that Bach is greater, but I find Rameau and Handel to be his equals, and it makes me cringe every time people rank better than him the predictable and repetitive mass that is Vivaldi. Vivaldi wrote some lovely pieces (such as the Recorder concertos), but many more ordinary, homogenous pieces, however new and influential his style was. That criticism can hardly be leveled at Telemann, each of whose pieces is somehow unique.

If you want to be a Telemann convert, the Tafelmusik is exactly the place to start.

Customer Rating:
Summary: That's right! I stepped up!
Comment: I've been looking at this box set for a while now hoping that someone would buy it and review it. I've seen these sets sell for over $100, so I thought this one would be a dud at only $11.99. And with no samples, I just about wrote it off. But finally I took a chance.

I'm here to tell ya that if you like this music, don't hesitate to buy this box set. It has great sound, performances, and liner notes. Don't let the price fool you. I would have paid this price for the first cd alone. I don't know how these cds are selling at this price, but I won't argue.

I hope this opens the flood gates!