Tomaso AlbinoniDouble Oboe Concertos & String Concertos - Volume I
Robson, Latham, Collegium Musicum 90, Simon Standage
Chandos CHAN 0602
This is one of my favorite discs and it's a pity that it hasn't been reviewed yet. If you're a fan of Italian baroque instrumental music, and especially the oboe, you owe yourself to buy this cd.
It isn't St. Matthew's Passion, but it's not meant to be. This is very pleasant, upbeat, and tuneful music. The conductor has mixed Albinoni's violin and double oboe concerti together - I suppose in an attempt to mix the music up a bit. I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure that if you buy both volumes you'll be getting all of Opus 7 and 9.
The performers are excellent. I don't have any dynamic criticism as far as that goes. The different instruments have just the right presence, and are balanced very well (no single instrument is unduly pronounced or drowned out). On some recordings of period instrument music the oboe can easily get drowned out, or the baroque guitar is impossible to hear, but here (to my taste at least) everything is exactly right.
As far as recording quality goes this cd is very good. It's very clean; there isn't any sort of echo or distracting sounds that occasionally appears in some recordings.
AAM has recorded all the oboe concertos on a cd, which I have listened to, but I prefer this Collegium Musicum disc as I find the bass in the Hogwood to be a bit heavy, the violin a bit more distant, and I can't hear the guitar at all (if it's even there). Not that the AAM disc is poor, but this one just has more clarity.
Amazon Customer Review
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