Telemann: Pariser Quartette Vol.1

During the autumn of 1737 Georg Philipp Telemann fulfilled a wish that he had long hoped to realize: he traveled to Paris, the center of French music, which he valued so very highly. The eight months he spent in Paris were a magnificent success. In addition to the major notice of concerts in the Concerts spirituels series, he was awarded a royal privilege enabling him to print his own compositions in Paris. The Nouveaux Quatuors of 1738, the so-called Paris Quartets, were among the works published with this privilege. We do not know, however, whether Telemann actually composed these six new quartets in Paris or had brought them along with him in his baggage. In any case, where there are new quartets, there must also be old ones, and in this case they were the six Quadri published by Telemann in Hamburg in 1730 for the same instrumentation. Things were later simplified when all twelve quartets came to be known as the »Paris Quartets.« They represent the very best of Telemann's chamber music: refined, richly varied, full of imagination. Our new recording with greats such as John Holloway, Lorenz Duftschmid, and Lars Ulrik Mortensen will set new standards – and that's a guarantee!