Albinoni: The Collected Concertos for Oboes & Strings

ALBINONI Concerti a cinque : 1–12, Op. 7; 1–12, Op. 9. Sinfonia in g, Si 7 • Simon Standage (vn, cond); Anthony Robson (ob); Catherine Latham (ob); Collegium Musicum 90 • CHANDOS 0792 (3 CDs: 199:20) These recordings were released in the mid to late 1990s, and Chandos has now conveniently packaged them up in a three-disc boxed set. I’m a little surprised that a fourth disc from this same source containing Albinoni’s 12 Concerti a cinque , op. 5, wasn’t also included in this collection. Well before Vivaldi, Albinoni was the first Italian composer to feature the oboe as a solo instrument in a concerto; and indeed, of the 12 concertos, op. 7, Nos. 3, 6, 9, and 12 feature a solo oboe, while Nos. 2, 5, 8, and 11 are double concertos featuring two oboes. Only Nos. 1, 4, 7, and 10 are for strings only. The 12 concertos, op. 9, revisit Albinoni’s oboe-centric passion, but this time with a reversal in the sequence of the single and double oboe works. Now the