Search - Tomaso Albinoni, John Georgiadis, London Virtuosi :: Albinoni: Oboe Concerti, Op. 9

Sheer enjoyment and all in good taste

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 08/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tomaso Albinoni was a contemporary of Vivaldi in Venice, and his Concerti a cinque opus 9, published in 1722, provide ample evidence of his felicity in composition. His wife was a well-known opera singer, and his oboe concertos sound like wonderfully cantabile instrumental da capo arias: first there is an energetic fast movement, then a lyrical slow movement, followed by another fast movement that once again takes up themes from the first movement. The music is contrapuntal, harmonious, balanced and, to put it blankly, full of sheer enjoyment.



Deliberating on this review, I had to decide whether to give this CD four or five stars. In the end, I opted for four. Before I explain why, I should like to say why five was an option. Although Anthony Camden, Julia Girdwood and the London Virtuosi under the leadership of John Georgiadis play on modern instruments, they have obviously learned a good deal from developments in the area of historical performance practice. Their disposition for these concertos is just about what Albinoni would have had in mind: four each of first and second violins, three violas, two cellos, a double bass and a harpsichord, this last played with tremendous gusto by Paul Nicholson. In fact, the performance of the London Virtuosi is one of the best features of this CD, and the Naxos engineers have made sure that one can really hear the good stuff that is going on behind the soloists. (I found that listening via good headphones was even more convincing than in front of loudspeakers.) The soloists themselves, Anthony Camden alone in four concerts and together with Julia Girdwood in two others, give a marvellous performance, combining high technical skills with sheer good taste. In all except one concerto, the tempi are relatively fast, which does these energetic concertos good. This is most enjoyable music, exquisitely performed.



So why only four stars? I think three reasons can be adduced. One is in the nature of a personal preference: After all the commotion of the Early Music movement, I just do not see why early 18th century music should be performed on modern instruments. The slightly metallic sound of the Howarth oboes used here, lovely as it is, does not for my mind quite match up to the woody warmth of period instruments. One could make similar strictures on the other instruments employed here. In particular, the use of a double bass instead of a violone tends to overdo the bass line a little.



A second reason is that four of the concertos on this CD have been recorded by Han de Vries and the ensemble Alma Musica Amsterdam under the leadership of Bob van Asperen on EMI, re-released on Virgin Veritas Albinoni · Telemann - Concertos and Sonatas for oboe / Han de Vries · Alma Musica Amsterdam · Bob van Asperen. The Dutch team uses historical instruments, replacing the double bass with a violone, and the result is, for my ears, slightly more convincing, despite the fact that the analogue recorded sound is not quite so good as that of the Naxos CD. In particular, I happen to love the sound of Han de Vries' historic oboe, mechanical noises and all, and I wanted to award the Virgin CD one star more for that reason.



The third reason for giving only four stars is John Georgiadis' choice of tempo for Opus 9, No. 2, the most famous concerto on this disc. Perhaps led astray by Albinoni's "Allegro e non presto", Georgiadis puts the brake on a little and takes over a minute and a half longer for the concerto than van Asperen (and the whole piece is only about 11 minutes long). Particularly the gorgeous second movement suffers from this: Camden/Georgiadis turn adagio almost into largo; in comparison, de Vries/van Asperen sound much more convincing.



Despite these criticisms, this CD is excellent value for money and offers sheer delights of entertainment. You could do worse than follow my footsteps and purchase both Camden on Naxos and de Vries on Virgin."

If you like Vivaldi, get this!

Leslie Richford | 03/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listen to these works without looking at the name of the composer, and you may think "Vivaldi." But if you were to look at the name, it's "Albinoni." Many of us who heard of that name would think of his famous "Adagio" (arr. Giazotto). These Oboe Concertos by Albinoni are well performed. Besides the performance, the sound is very good. It's worth more than the cheap price. I don't know what else to say but "Go get it!""