This is one of Bis’s 6 CDs for the price of 3 bargain collections. As a result it starts with a big advantage in the market for this repertoire. An air of added value has always been something associated with Dan Laurin’s recording of the Telemann 12 Fantasias for Flute Solo. Even in 1994 it came with a free bonus disc containing the Bach father and son Carl Philipp Emanuel A minor solo sonatas. These worked less well for me on the recorder, and one of the advantages the transverse flute has over the recorder is greater resonance in the lower registers. This means that the duality of the counterpoint is perhaps a little less evenly balanced with the recorder. With Telemann’s Fantasias there is so much else going on that this is arguably less of an issue. Flute players of all kinds have been playing and recording these pieces on instruments both modern and ancient for years, and Dan Laurin’s recording is one of the top recommendations on the recorder. His style involves a good deal of extra ornamentation, something which is suggested but is less than explicit in Telemann’s scores, but this element of the ‘added value’ is all part of a stunning showcase of technical wizardry. Laurin’s ornamental elaborations arguably border on excess at times, but the essence of the music is preserved as a rule, and whatever this set of works becomes here they are never boring. Of the recordings I know in the authentic instrument field my personal favourite is on the Accent label with Barthold Kuijken with his transverse flute, but Dan Laurin is certainly ‘hot’ in these marvellous pieces.

Most flautists will have a certain amount of ‘baggage’ when it comes to Telemann’s duets, and I’ve played and taught these my whole life in venues ranging from school assemblies and concert halls to busking on the South Bank in London—to which I can attest that the fast and spectacular numbers are the ones which pay best. Dan Laurin and Clas Pehrsson are wonderfully expressive and virtuosic throughout, though there is one minor element in their combination which won’t bother everyone but does bug me a little. Laurin plays without vibrato, and Pehrsson emphatically with. I’m not particularly bothered either way, but the joli son of one against the straight texture of the other at times takes away some of the magical effect of the two combining as one magical instrument, crossing and weaving with itself and confusing the ear with artistic sophistication. This is a point of taste but also one of ensemble, and these days I would expect each musician to meet the other halfway at least some of the time. Indeed, Pehrsson is obliged to tame his vibrato when the two meet in unison, usually at the end of a movement. It has been mentioned elsewhere that better stereo separation might have helped these recordings, but I’m not so sure this would serve to benefit the music, and the proximity of the musicians keeps the counterpoint tight and compact. Theirmore....