Posted by GFT on September 07, 19101 at 13:03:56:

In Reply to: Don Quixote posted by Paddy Marshall on May 18, 19100 at 13:03:08:

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TELEMANN: Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho. Raimund Nolte, Michael Schopper, bes; Silke Stapf, Mechtild Bach, Heike Hallaschka, sopranos; Annette Kohler, alto; Karl-Heinz Brandt, tenor; Michael Schneider conducting La Stagione. CPO 999 210-2 [DDD]; 58:41. Produced by Helmut Schaarschmidt and Burkhard Schmilgun.

Don Quixote at Comacho's Wedding, which Telemann composed in 1761 to a libretto by a Hamburg man sixty years his junior (Daniel Schiebeler) was his last dramatic work, and received only a concert performance. (The Gänsemarkt Opera, for which Telemann had composed a number of works, had closed in 1738). A modern edition of the score was published by A-R Editions in 1991, and this seems to be the first recording.

Herewith a brief synopsis of the plot: Don Quixote and Sancho Panza come upon a party of shepherds preparing for the wedding of Comacho, a rich shepherd and Quiteria, a young shepherdess. Quiteria is actually in love with Basilio, but her father has promised her to Comacho for obvious reasons. As Quiteria and Comacho are about to be wed, Basilio appears, on the verge of death, having stabbed himself, and begs Quiteria to acknowledge him as her husband (Sancho Panza notes that for one who "schon halb in seinem Grabe liegt" he can still go on at length.) As soon as Comacho agrees to this, Basilio reveals that it was a trick, and a brawl is about to ensue, until Don Quixote forces Comacho to agree to the marriage.

Telemann's music is well-suited to the light-hearted, comical and satirical, and well captures the characters of both Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (both bes, since they are figures of mirth). Don Quixote's first aria, for example, depicts both his nobility (in his own mind) and with the second half of the motive, the absurd figures he represents to others. Also worth noting is the unusual scoring (the entry of the shepherds is accompanied by piccolo boon, and snare drum in a rousing march) and the use of chordal recitativo by the chorus.

Michael Schneider's ensemble turns in a fine performance. Raimund Nolte as Don Quixote and Michael Schopper as Sancho Panza do do most of the singing. Both have large and resonant voices; Schopper's sounds more spacious, and he manages to bring the humor of his character across. The orchestral playing is vivid, and the sound is very good. A must for the Telemann collector, and it should bring many others pleasure as well.

-Tom Moore

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