Telemann: 12 Fantasias for Violin Solo; Gulliver Suite for Two Violins

Telemann's musical imagination and inventiveness are astonishing. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific composer in history (over 7,000 pieces!). Yet even when he turned pieces out by the dozen, as he did here, each one had its own character and individual ideas. Andrew Manze plays each one stylishly, although I would no more recommend listening to all of them together than I would advise hearing all of Bach's music for solo violin. Try a few at a time. The little Gulliver Suite, which brings the timing up to 78 minutes, is a charmer. --Leslie Gerber