The instrument we now
recognise as the oboe was, in its earliest
form, the creation of French instrument
makers in the 1650s. It was essentially
the product of a desire to make a version
of the shawm that would be suitable
for indoor use. Makers such as Hotteterre
and Philidor produced an instrument
smaller than the shawm and less pungent,
more haunting in tone. This new instrument
was being played in Venice shortly before
the end of the seventeenth century.
Sonatas and concertos for the instrument
were composed with some frequency in
the city in the early part of the eighteenth
century. Though no oboe concerto by
Vivaldi was published until 1716, he
had probably written some such concertos
a little earlier. Albinoni’s first published
concertos for the instrument appeared
in his Op. 7 collection, Concerto
a cinque.
Vivaldi’s oboe concertos
generally seem to model the solo part
on the existing example of the violin
concerto – that is, Vivaldi’s writing
for oboe is very similar to his writing
for the violin, with due allowance for
the necessary differences between the
two instruments. Albinoni, on the other
hand, seems – as Michael Talbot suggests
in his 1990 book on the composer, Tommaso
Albinoni: The Venetian Composer and
His World – to have taken vocal
style as his model when writing for
the solo oboe. There is often a decidedly
‘operatic’ aria-like quality to the
oboe part in these concertos. It is
perhaps worth remembering that Albinoni
himself claimed to have written more
than eighty operas, so the style would
certainly have come very naturally to
him!
The solo role is given
to the oboe (or two oboes) in eight
of the Op. 7 concertos and all of them
are included on this CD. As Talbot points
out, Albinoni’s title page describes
these as concertos ‘with’ oboe, rather
than ‘for’ oboe; the oboe, that is to
say, is very much part of the larger
musical texture of the concertos, rather
than providing a virtuosic display which
is merely supported by the orchestra.
In fact, the writing for the oboe is
not especially florid, and the interplay
between violin(s) and oboe(s) is such
that these are very often works characterised
more by dialogue than by the assertiveness
of the nominal soloist. No. 11 is a
particularly fine example of the concerto
for two oboes, with a lovely melodic
adagio and a closing allegro which has
some daring and unexpected harmonic
touches. Schilli and Deangeli listen
responsively to one another in these
double oboe concertos and the results
are very satisfying.
The concertos of Op.
9 are more expansive than their predecessors.
Very often in this second batch of concertos
the first violin seems to be almost
as important as the solo oboe and the
contrapuntal interplay between the two
is often one of their most interesting
features, especially in the outer movements.
The adagios of this second set of concertos
are consistently beautiful, with deliciously
cantabile melodies for the oboe. The
calm, melodic grace and balance of the
adagio of the second concerto has made
it something of a baroque ‘lollipop’.
It is given a very attractive performance
here, with some fine orchestral playing
as well as excellent work from Schilli.
In No. 5 the patterns of imitation in
the adagio are particularly rich and
entertaining. Among the concertos for
two oboes, No. 3 is striking for its
adoption of the ‘hunting’ style, with
horn calls imitated. Elsewhere there
are some delightful individual movements,
such as the closing allegro, actually
a minuet, of No. 6 and the moving adagio
of No. 12.
The first two CDs in
this set contain all of Albinoni’s concertos
with oboe(s). In both Op. 7 and Op.
9 the twelve concertos include four
for violin. The four from Op. 9 are
recorded on the third CD. Sadly the
four from Op. 7 are not included - there
would surely have been room for them?
Good though it is to
have all of Albinoni’s concertos with
oboe(s) conveniently gathered in this
way – and very decently played and recorded
– it has to be said that the ideal would
really be to have the whole of Opp.
7 and 9 presented, each in numerical
order, so that we might appreciate the
musical architecture of each of the
sets. Thus, in Op. 7 the twelve concertos
are arranged in four sequences of three,
each sequence made up of a concerto
for strings alone, followed by a concerto
with two oboes and a concerto with one
oboe. In Op. 9 there are, again, four
sequences of three, made up this time
of a concerto for violin, a concerto
with single oboe and a concerto with
two oboes. There are other patterns
created by Albinoni’s ordering of his
concertos, too, and it is unfortunate
that they have been disrupted.
A missed opportunity,
then, but let’s be grateful for what
is here. There is an abundance
of enticing music, well performed by
all the soloists. Tanja Becker-Bender
brings energy, lyrical feeling and,
just occasionally, a bit too much vibrato,
to her playing of the Op. 9 concertos
for violin. The orchestral sound is
beautifully blended and well recorded.
Glyn Pursglove
Stefan Schilli (oboe), Giovanni Deangeli
(oboe)*, Tanja Becker-Bender (violin)**; 
