Andrew Manze, Frank de Bruine, Alfredo Bernardini,, Christopher Hogwood - Albinoni: 12 Concertos Op. 9 (1999)

For consistently amiable, if undemanding entertainment, Albinoni’s concertos, with or without oboe, or oboes, are hard to beat. Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music here perform the 12 concertos contained in the collection published in 1722 as the composer’s Op. 9. Neither the formal content nor the musical style differs significantly from Albinoni’s earlier collection, Op. 7 (1715); each set includes four concertos for strings, four for strings with oboe and four for strings with two oboes. In the Op. 9 set, though, greater emphasis is placed on solo violin in the all-string pieces.

I seem never to tire of these endlessly charming works and it is this set that perhaps contains Albinoni’s crowning achievement in the concerto sphere, a lyrical Adagio for solo oboe with a simple string arpeggio accompaniment belonging to the Second Concerto. Its wistful, undulating melody lingers forever in the memory, outclassing in every conceivable respect the spurious G minor Adagio, which persists like a virus, but upon which, paradoxically, Albinoni’s reputation during the second half of the twentieth century has largely been established. There are many delightful slow movements in this set, but also some irresistibly sprightly ones. These belong mainly to the pieces for two oboes, the Third and Sixth Concertos of the set providing spirited examples.

None of this is lost either on the three accomplished soloists – Andrew Manze, Frank de Bruine and Alfredo Bernardini – or the strings of the Academy of Ancient Music which provide lively and sensitive support. In short, the set affords uninterrupted pleasure from start to finish.

Only one other complete rival period-instrument version currently appears in the catalogue; that is by Collegium Musicum 90 directed by Simon Standage. Readers who have that set will perforce also have Albinoni’s Op. 7 concertos which intermingle with Op. 9 throughout the three discs. Collegium Musicum 90 offers brighter-sounding performances with the addition of a guitar, theorbo or archlute providing effective variety to the continuo support. But intonation in the A major Concerto is less secure than the more unanimous playing of the Academy. These matters apart, the choice will be determined by taste, above all, perhaps, where individual oboe tone is concerned. Both sets, in their own different ways, project the unfailing charm of these warmly expressive, unassuming but beautifully crafted concertos. No collection should be without the Second, Sixth or Eleventh Concertos. -- Nicholas Anderson