Albinoni, Tomaso - The Other Venetian!

Started by SonicMan46, September 12, 2008, 10:53:23 AM

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SonicMan46

I've loved the instrumental works of Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751) for many years, and in checking out the 'composer's index' saw no dedicated entry for him.  A short Wiki Article provides an introduction to this Venetian Baroque composer, who was most famous in his day for writing operas & some just beautiful instrumental works, including some gorgeous adagios.

His Oboe Concertos have always enthralled me, and I just acquired the 3-CD set from Brilliant (shown below) - these contain the 'Complete' Op. 7 & 9 works, which comprise 24 concerti; however, the title is misleading, in that 8 of these works are Violin Concertos (4 in each opus), and 4 are missing in this offering - but, all of the oboe works are included - the MusicWeb Review gives an excellent accounting of these performances; but what is surprising is that the 3rd disc is only 40  mins or so long, and could have easily accommodated the other 4 violin concertos?  ::)

Now, I have 2 other CDs of the same works:  Sarah Francis doing 8 of the oboe concertos on the Regis label, and Anthony Robson w/ Standage, only Vol. 1 (also below) - listening to the latter @ the moment, which is done on period instruments and with a different sound, so I'd like to keep the Robson (and probably pick up Vol. 2), and also the Brilliant set! 

In trying to make this decision I put together a quick spreadsheet (attached & hope it is readable) - but shows 4 of these collections and the works contained - probably will replace the Francis disc w/ the Robson, Vol. 2, for the period instruments.

I know there have been some other recordings of these oboe works mentioned before, esp. the Naxos series - so bring on any other recommendations - these are delightful works, indeed -  :D

And, of course, any other discussions about this composer & his compositions!  NOTE - * indicates the violin concertos.  :)

 

Ric

#1
Albinoni's music attracts a lot of attention from me. It's so inspired. I can recommend this disc, full of exquisit music, but that doesn't renounce to the emotion.


SonicMan46

Quote from: Ric on September 14, 2008, 01:07:31 AM
Music's Albinoni attracts a lot of attention from me. It's so inspired. I can recommend this disc, full of exquisit music, but that doesn't renounce to the emotion.

Hi Ric and welcome to the GMG Forum!  :D  I also own the CPO disc of the Op. 1 Trio Sonatas, and support your recommendation -  :)

But, looks like this thread needs a 'jump start' - below is a list of the published 'instrumental' works of Tomaso Albinoni, put together over about a 40 year period:

Opus 1 (1694) 12 Trio Sonatas
Opus 2 (1700) 6 Sinfoniae & 6 Concerti à 5
Opus 3 (1701) 12 Baletti de Camera (à 3)
Opus 4 (1704) 6 Sonate da Chiesa for Violin & Bass
Opus 5 (1707) 12 Concertos
Opus 6 (1711) 12 Sonate da Camera for Violin & Bass
Opus 7 (1716) 12 Concertos for Strings / Oboe(s)
Opus 8 (1721) 6 Sonatas & 6 Baletti (à 3)
Opus 9 (1722) 12 Concertos for Strings / Oboe(s)
Opus 10 (1735) 12 Concertos for Violin

There are several double-CD bargain sets of a number of the Opus Numbers above not yet mentioned that are in my collection:

Op. 4 & 6 w/ the Locatelli Trio (Wallfisch on violin) on a well-done Hyperion Dyad offering & Op. 10 w/ Scimone & I Solisti Veneti on an Erato Ultima set -  :)

 

SonicMan46

Double Oboe & String Concertos, Vol. II w/ Anthony Robson & Catherine Latham + Simon Standage w/ Collegium Musicum 90 - these are wonderful perfomances on period instruments, complete my full collection of the Op. 7 & 9 compositions, and complement the Brilliant collection shown previously -  :D

Albinoni was one of the first composers to write for the oboe and did so beautifully - these are worthy of consideration - I'm surprised that that there are only two of us responding to this 'new' composer's thread - but, if others want to 'chime in' please do so, the guy wrote a bunch of music (and of course was a famous 'opera' composer of the time) -  :)


DavidW

TT thread necromancy!

Albinoni's Oboe concertos are neat.  Don't care for how he handles violin concerti though.  But he certainly has a way with the oboe.  No romanticized adagio in g minor though, just nearly galant style baroque, pleasant on the ears, not too complex but still has a bit of counterpoint to it though.

I had some of his concerti done romantically by I Musici in the past but now have Hogwood, AAM and several soloists which do a good job, but could really embellish it much more though, you know put the baroque back in Albinoni.  So besides Sonic Dave and Ric, anyone else like Albinoni? :)

And anyone know know any jazzy baroques-esque trilly renditions of Albinoni concerti?


SonicMan46

Well, TTT again after a 4-year dormancy - my two most recent acquisitions are shown below:

Op. 5 - 12 Concerti a cinque w/ Standage & Collegium Musicum 90 - completes the trio of recordings from this group (the others are Op. 7 & 9 w/ oboes discussed previously) - here mainly strings + theorbo & harpsichord - IF you like Baroque oboe (PIs here), then the latter recordings are highly recommended.

Op. 2 - Sinfonie a Cinque w/ Chiara Banchini & Ensemble 415 - here a smaller group w/ 2 altos (violas), 2 violins, cello, bass, theorbo, & harpsichord - just arrived today and listening for the first time; love this group on other recordings and also the label; apparently, there are 12 pieces in Albinoni's Op. 2 work; the first 6 are chamber sonatas (as performed here beautifully); the remaining 6 are more orchestral (don't own those) - an explanation & excellent comments w/ a 5* rating can be found in this AllMusic Review - another highly recommended recording from this lesser known Venetian!  Dave :)

 

Parsifal

#6
I'd give the entire oeuve of the "other Venetian" for one work of Albinoni.

The Trio Sonatas are very fine:

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and both i Musici and i Soloisti Venetia have made great recordings of the concerti, for example.

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I don't know if all installments of these series are still in print, but they are all worth hearing.

SonicMan46

Thanks Scarpia for your comments - Albinoni's opus works are certainly of high general quality - for those interested in this composer, the CD on ZigZag that I posted previously is just outstanding - sound, performance, quality of the works, etc. and these pieces were written around 1770 and bridged the gap between Baroque and early classical chamber music - plus, on further reading, both Vivaldi & Bach studied these Op. 2 compositions, so also of historic interest for those into this transition! :)

BUT, after listening to the Ensemble 415 disc and realizing that only 6 of the 12 works were performed, I wanted the remainder - SO, did a $9 Amazon MP3 download of the recording below (approaches 80 minutes) - burned the files to a CD-R and listened tonight over my den stereo - all went well - Dave


kishnevi

I have the Opus 7 recording from Holliger/I Musici.   I suppose this means I need to get the Op. 9 set!
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71 dB

Quote from: Scarpia on September 23, 2013, 11:37:29 AM
The Trio Sonatas are very fine:

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I listened to that disc (arrived to me) yesterday and I liked it. Maybe not as mindblowing I expected* but good baroque music nevertheless.

* I read somewhere that Op. 1 by Albinoni is much more sophisticated and interesting music than his later works.
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

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Jo498

Maybe not mindblowing but I found it quite interesting that Albinoni in op.1 and 2 is much closer to Corelli and also considerably more "learned" and polyphonic than in the better known oboe etc. stuff opp.5/7/9.
(I think I have not heard any of his op.3,4,6). Whether this is more sophisticated than the more melodic/popular later concerti might be up for debate but it is certainly *different* and might appeal more to some listeners.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

71 dB

Quote from: Jo498 on December 10, 2016, 10:13:45 AM
Maybe not mindblowing but I found it quite interesting that Albinoni in op.1 and 2 is much closer to Corelli and also considerably more "learned" and polyphonic than in the better known oboe etc. stuff opp.5/7/9.

Yes, Op. 1 is closer to Corelli, but I hoped for music on par with Corelli. That was simply not realistic.  ;D
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

SonicMan46

Quote from: Jo498 on December 10, 2016, 10:13:45 AM
Maybe not mindblowing but I found it quite interesting that Albinoni in op.1 and 2 is much closer to Corelli and also considerably more "learned" and polyphonic than in the better known oboe etc. stuff opp.5/7/9.
(I think I have not heard any of his op.3,4,6). Whether this is more sophisticated than the more melodic/popular later concerti might be up for debate but it is certainly *different* and might appeal more to some listeners.

Hi Jo498 - now just over 8 years ago I left the listing of Albinoni's Opus numbers (re-shown below) in an earlier post in this thread - at the moment I own about 12 CDs of his works (missing are the Opus 3 compositions) - probably my favorites are those w/ oboe - the 3 shown below (total of 5 discs) - note that the Robson recordings are from Opus 7 & 9, so a duplication, but both are quite enjoyable - SO, if you've not heard these works, then worth a try.  Dave :)

QuoteOpus 1 (1694) 12 Trio Sonatas
Opus 2 (1700) 6 Sinfoniae & 6 Concerti à 5
Opus 3 (1701) 12 Baletti de Camera (à 3)
Opus 4 (1704) 6 Sonate da Chiesa for Violin & Bass
Opus 5 (1707) 12 Concertos
Opus 6 (1711) 12 Sonate da Camera for Violin & Bass
Opus 7 (1716) 12 Concertos for Strings / Oboe(s)
Opus 8 (1721) 6 Sonatas & 6 Baletti (à 3)
Opus 9 (1722) 12 Concertos for Strings / Oboe(s)
Opus 10 (1735) 12 Concertos for Violin

   

Jo498

I have op.1 (cpo),2 (Sasso) and 7 and 9 (Holliger). I don't think I have ever heard any of the others.
There seems only one complete (and it claims world premiere) recording of op.3

[asin]B000GIWU6S[/asin]
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

aligreto

#14
Albinoni: Oboe Concerto Op. 9/2 Adagio movement

This piece of music remains a perennial favourite of mine. I find it to be haunting, yearning and wistful music consisting of real beauty. A key element to a successful interpretation of the piece is pace and phrasing which determines the tone, mood and ultimate outcome and success of the performance of the piece. It is a divine piece of music and if played correctly it can lead to rapturous listening.

I have the following recordings in my collection, interestingly, all on CD with no vinyl representation here:


      


      



There is also this wonderful YouTube video:


https://www.youtube.com/v/9IDpqUn3uYs



aligreto

Incidentally, for those wishing to explore the wonderful sound world of the Albinoni Oboe Concerti for the first time I would recommend investigating Camden on Naxos


      


They are on modern instruments but Camden has the measure of these works I feel.

Biffo

John Jenkins: Newarke Seidge a 4 - L'Achéron directed by François Joubert-Caillet. This piece, inspired by the Siege of Newark in the English Civil War, was played on BBC Radio 3 this morning and prompted me to buy the whole album - A Consort's Monument . L'Achéron is a French ensemble but they play on English (-style) instruments, a consort of viols, a virginal and a consort organ. They took part of their inspiration (and the title of the album) from Thomas Mace's Musick's Monument (1676).

The album also contains music by Monteverdi, Coperario, William Lawes and various others.

aligreto




There is a good alternative to the version of the Op. 1 above produced by L'Arte Dell' Arco for those who may not be aware of it....





I mentioned in a post recently enough that there is not too much between these two ensembles but if I had to choose only one set I would keep the L'Arte dell'Arco set. It has a somewhat fuller sound and the presentation is a little bit more vivacious in the Allergo sections for me.

71 dB

Quote from: aligreto on April 25, 2020, 04:01:22 AM
Incidentally, for those wishing to explore the wonderful sound world of the Albinoni Oboe Concerti for the first time I would recommend investigating Camden on Naxos

      

They are on modern instruments but Camden has the measure of these works I feel.

These are nice discs. I have had them ~20 years.  :)
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

Daverz

My first exposure to Albinoni was an old Musical Heritage Society Lp:



Pre-HIP string playing, of course, but I still have a soft spot for it.