Telemann, and Nuria Rial

In some ways, the first half of the twentieth century was a golden age for recorded music. Great singers, pianists, string players and conductors bestrode the turntable. However, in other ways, today is a new golden age; we may not have Heifetz, Schnabel or Furtwängler, but we do have access to thousands of hours of recorded music that almost never existed in previous decades. Where, for example, would someone interested in exploring the 50 or so operas by Georg Telemann have started in 1935? Telemann wrote some 3500 works, most of them never available in recorded form (or featuring in concerts).

A new CD by the enchanting Catalan soprano Nuria Rial introduces us to arias from Telemann's operas – greatly admired by contempories including Handel and J.S. Bach. One of those CDs that is unalloyed pleasure from start to finish with the music, the singer, the conductor / violinist (Julia Schröder) and the band (Kammerorchester Basel) all creating a happy hour of music. Even the un-Germanic “Rrrs” of Ms Rial bring a smile to the face. A CD to keep near the record player. And thank goodness for the second Golden Age; you would never have found someone such as Nuria Rial singing Telemann operatic arias back in 1935. Come to that, neither would you have found the indispensable Harmonia Mundi label.