Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)

Brockes-Passion

français
Marlgré ampleaur, l'oeuvre parvient à exercer sur l'auditeur réceptif une incroyable fascination.

C'est un véritable déchinement de passions que Telemann déclenche ici, en faisant se succéder, à un rythme soutenu, des passages riches en contrastes, et en renonçant largement aux arias da capo et à aux moments de répit qui leur sont propres. A chaque mesure, on sent à quel point cette musique proprement stupéfiante s'instaure en un véritable pendant de la poésie de Brockes. Fort d'une solide expérience dans le domaine de l'opéra (profane), Telemann élobore ici un langage musical étonnament moderne, pour n pas dire avant-gardiste.
Carten Lange, 2008

english
Winner of the 2009 Midem Classical Award for Best Baroque Performance.

With this Passion oratorio, Telemann introduced himself as a master of timbre, rhetorical elegance and supreme declamatory ease.

For all its attention to detailed articulation, this composition does not lose sight of the overall picture. It displays a hitherto unknown complexity, breadth and aesthetic approach which raise it to the status of a genuine work of art and milestone in the history of scared concert music. In pursuing his aim of celebrating Christ's Passion and work of salvation while communicating with his listeners' emotions, Telemann the experienced opera composer, in what was probably his first Passion setting, finds an astonishingly modern, almost avant-garde musical language...
The narrative of Christ’s Passion as retold by Barthold Brockes (a dominant figure in early 18th-century German literature) is of such dramatic power that it was set to music by 13 different composers (including Handel, Keiser, and Mattheson)!
Telemann’s version, premiered on 2 April 1716, became so famous that J. S. Bach, no immature youngster at the time, copied it out in full 23 years later . . .
René Jacobs has striven to restore this quite extraordinary score to life in all its rich complexity.