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ALBINONI: Oboe Concertos, Vol. 3

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Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (1671-1751)

Oboe Concerti, Op. 7, Nos. 5,6,11 & 12, and Op. 9, No.12

String Concerto, Op. 7, No.4

The oboe, perfected in France around the middle of the seventeenth century, gained acceptance in Venice during the 1690s. The first known Venetian operas to include a part for it dated from 1692, and by 1696 at the latest it had been heard at the Basilica of San Marco, which two years later recruited its first permanent player of the oboe. Several other oboists of note established themselves in the city, and the four ospedali grandi, the charitable institutions caring for foundlings, orphans and the destitute, added the instrument to the teaching curriculum.

It was logical, given Italy's - and, indeed, Venice's - pioneering rôle in the development of the concerto, that sooner or later the first concerti with parts for oboes would be written. The big question was how, if at all, should they differ in style and form from violin concerti? For Vivaldi, as for most Italian composers, the problem was easily resolved. In his hands the oboe becomes a kind of ersatz violin. To be sure, he takes care not to exceed the normal compass of the instrument (running from the D above Middle C to the D two octaves higher), remembers to insert pauses for breathing and avoids over-abrupt changes of register, but the solo part still seems remarkably violinistic - as Vivaldi himself tacitly acknowledged when, on more than one occasion, he prescribed the violin as an alternative to the oboe.

It was left to Vivaldi's important Venetian contemporary, Tomaso Albinoni, to find another way of treating the oboe in a concerto. Apart from being a capable violinist, Albinoni was a singing teacher married to an operatic diva. His experience of writing operas and cantatas decisively affected the way in which he approached melody and instrumentation. His concerti equate the oboe not with a violin but with the human voice in an aria. Conjunct movement and small intervals are generally preferred to wide skips. In opening orchestral passages the oboe does not double the first violin (as in Vivaldi concerti) but bides its time until its solo entry or else supplies an independent line. The opening solo idea is often presented twice - the first time abortively, the second time with a normal continuation. This twofold presentation is a device borrowed straight from the operatic aria of the time.

Albinoni describes these works as concerti 'with' rather than 'for' oboe. The difference is significant. Whereas in a Vivaldi oboe concerto the prime aim is to show off the capability of the soloist, here the oboe is the partner rather than the dominator of the first violin - and even the second violin is not excluded from the discourse. The spirit of give and take that exists between the treble instruments lends these works a character that reminds one of chamber music.

Albinoni's first set of Concerti a cinque with parts for one or two oboes, published in Amsterdam as his Opus 7 in 1715, has the distinction of being the first such collection by an Italian composer ever published. The composer dedicated them to a local nobleman and amateur musician, Giovanni Donato Correggio. The works are divided into four groups, each of which begins with a concerto for strings (one of these, No.11, contains passages for a solo violin), continues with a concerto for two oboes and finishes with one for a single oboe. Whereas the concerti with one oboe are fully mature in conception, those with two oboes are more varied, as if Albinoni, in 1715, had not yet decided how to structure them. Certainly, the two-oboe works, which are all in the traditional trumpet keys of C major and D major, carry strong traces of the trumpet sonatas that Bolognese composers, in particular, had written at the end of the previous century. The finales of both the fifth and the eleventh concerto show this quality very clearly, even if the slow movements adopt a more intimate tone. But the most blatant 'fanfare' of all comes in the first movement of the final concerto in Opus 9, Albinoni's sequel to Opus 7 published in 1722. The dreamy, elegiac Adagio in B minor that forms the heart of this concerto is one of the finest specimens of its type.

The present recording includes two of the single-oboe concerti in Opus 7: Nos. 6 and 12. Both have finales in 3/8 or 6/8 that exploit Albinoni's favourite rhythmic device of hemiola (where twice three units becomes thrice two units or the reverse). Their outer movements are spacious, always presenting the main oboe theme twice in succession on its initial appearance.

The fourth concerto from Opus 7 exemplifies the four string concerti in this collection. It is closely related to the Sinfonia in G major included paraphrases of those in the sinfonia, while the subsidiary material is unchanged. Self-borrowing of this kind was normal among Italian composers of Albinoni's generation. In place of the fugue that ends the sinfonia, however, the concerto has a tripping, dance-like movement in 3/8.

1995 Michael Talbot

Anthony Camden

Anthony Camden is solo oboist with the London Virtuosi, having served as principal oboe in the London Symphony Orchestra from 1972 to 1988. His solo recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra include the Bach Concerto for violin and oboe, with Yehudi Menuhin, the Oboe Concerto by Grace Williams and a video of music by Bach with Claudio Abbado. He founded the London Virtuosi in 1972 with James Galway and John Georgiadis and the ensemble thereafter toured widely in the Americas, throughout Europe and in the Far East. Anthony Camden himself, the son of a very distinguished British bassoonist, has given master classes at many of the most famous conservatories and schools of music and is currently Dean of Music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and an Honorary Professor of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In addition to some 400 recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, his recordings with the London Virtuosi include Mozart's Oboe Quartet, a Telemann Trio for flute, oboe and harpsichord with James Galway and for RCA Haydn's Divertimento for oboe and strings. Anthony Camden plays on a Howarth Oboe.

Alison Alty

Alison Alty first studied in London with Malcolm Messiter before gaining a Bachelor of Music (Hons) degree at Manchester University. She then studied with Anthony Camden at the Guildhall School of Music. After being awarded a double distinction at the National Centre for Orchestral Studies she worked regularly as an oboist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. She is currently working as a free-lance oboist both with large orchestras and also chamber ensembles.

The London Virtuosi

The London Virtuosi was founded in 1972 by Anthony Camden, James Galway and principal string players from the London Symphony Orchestra. In the 21 years of its life the London Virtuosi has performed in all the major countries in the world - USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, Japan etc. It has been the resident orchestra in Festivals in Britain and Spain and made many recordings. In recent years the London Virtuosi has specialised in performing all the Brandenburg Concertos and a large repertoire of Baroque and classical music. The orchestra consists of sixteen string players, a harpsichord and an oboe and is directed from the violin by the leader John Georgiadis, who was for fifteen years the Concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra.

violins

John Georgiadis, Rolf Wilson, Barry Wilde, Benedict Cruft, James McCleod, Roy Gillard, Roger Garland and Lilly Li

Violas

Brian Hawkins, George Robertson and Dai Emanuel

Cellos

Douglas Cummings and Ben Kennard

Bass

Linda Houghton

Harpsichord

Paul Nicholson

John Georgiadis

Born at Southend-on-Sea, Essex, John Georgiadis studied the violin at the Royal Academy of Music and after two and a half years as leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra moved to the London Symphony Orchestra, which he led for some eleven years, through two periods between 1965 and 1979. An early interest in conducting, supported by study with Sergiu Celibidache, brought an international career in this rôle and appointment in 1991 as Principal Guest Conductor of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra. His connection with the London Symphony Orchestra has been continued with conducting engagements with the orchestra in London and in tours to the United States and elsewhere. Since its foundation in 1972 John Georgiadis has been Music Director and Conductor of the London Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and from 1987 to 1990 played first violin in the Gabrieli Quartet.

Disc 1

Concerto for two oboes in D major, Op. 9, No. 12

(more info)

Performed by: London Virtuosi
Composed by: Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni
Conducted by: John Georgiadis
Anthony Camden, oboe
Alison Alty, oboe
Recording date: 18-25 July 1994
Produced by: Craker, Chris

I. Allegro - 03:17
II. Adagio - 03:15
III. Allegro - 02:37

Oboe Concerto in C major, Op. 7, No. 12

(more info)

Performed by: London Virtuosi
Composed by: Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni
Conducted by: John Georgiadis
Anthony Camden, oboe
Recording date: 18-25 July 1994
Produced by: Craker, Chris

I. Allegro - 02:57
II. Adagio - 03:06
III. Allegro - 02:05

Oboe Concerto in G major, Op. 7, No. 4

(more info)

Performed by: London Virtuosi
Composed by: Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni
Conducted by: John Georgiadis
Anthony Camden, oboe
Recording date: 18-25 July 1994
Produced by: Craker, Chris

I. Allegro - 02:26
II. Adagio - 03:08
III. Allegro - 02:08

Concerto for two oboes in C major, Op. 7, No. 5

(more info)

Performed by: London Virtuosi
Composed by: Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni
Conducted by: John Georgiadis
Anthony Camden, oboe
Alison Alty, oboe
Recording date: 18-25 July 1994
Produced by: Craker, Chris

I. Allegro - 03:26
II. Adagio - 02:10
III. Allegro - 02:35

Oboe Concerto in D major, Op. 7, No. 6

(more info)

Performed by: London Virtuosi
Composed by: Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni
Conducted by: John Georgiadis
Anthony Camden, oboe
Recording date: 18-25 July 1994
Produced by: Craker, Chris

I. Allegro - 02:42
II. Adagio - 03:33
III. Allegro - 02:08

Concerto for two oboes in C major, Op. 7, No. 11

(more info)

Performed by: London Virtuosi
Composed by: Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni
Conducted by: John Georgiadis
Anthony Camden, oboe
Alison Alty, oboe
Recording date: 18-25 July 1994
Produced by: Craker, Chris

I. Allegro - 05:15
II. Adagio - 02:48
III. Allegro - 02:30

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Composer(s)/ Author(s):
Albinoni, Tomaso Giovanni

Conductor(s):
Georgiadis, John

Orchestra(s):
London Virtuosi

Artist(s):
Alty, Alison; Camden, Anthony

Label: Naxos Classics
UPC: 730099403528
Item Number: 8553035
Release Date: Jan 1, 2000