Search - Tomaso Albinoni, Claudio Scimone, I Solisti Veneti :: Albinoni: 12 Concertos Op 10

Very muddled recording

Roger H. Thompson | Hilliard, OH USA | 05/03/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I found this recording to be very muddled. The location (I do not have the CD at hand) added so much reverberation that it was hard to even pick out the soloist at times. Perhaps they should have done this recording in a studio to get better acoustics. As An example of what I would prefer is the Opus 9 by I Musici on the Phillips label"

Bright and Lively

S. Hansen | Palo Alto,CA | 01/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording is everything an Italian Baroque recording should be. Rather than recording these masterworks in a studio, they recorded them in a villa. This choice creates a very bright ambiance but is in a small enough room to not create any detectable or distracting reverb. A fine balance, to be sure, but their recording engineer pulled it off splendidly. The pieces are amongst the best of Albinoni's and the price makes this a completely happy purchase."

Albinoni's Op. 10 Budget Offering Deserves a Better Overall

Giradman | 01/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Albinoni's Op. 10 works are a collection of a dozen instrumental concertos in which a solo violin is given some prominence in just over half of the 3-movement pieces; harpsichord is used as the basso continuo. As already stated these recordings were made in the Villa Simes Piazzola rather than a studio; the recording date was 1979 - these are offered on the budget Erato Ultima label at a great price and are worthy of investigation.



I Solisti Veneti is a period instrument group founded in 1959 by Claudio Scimone, so had been playing and recording together for 20 years when this offering was performed; in addition, the solo violinists were Piero Toso and Giuliano Carmignola, both exceptional Baroque instrumentalists. I would suspect that this group also recorded at the Villa mentioned often but the liner notes are scant and no mentioned is made of exactly the room or recording engineering techniques used.



Now, I've owned this set for a long time and must state that the performances are excellent and the recording for a 30 year-old date well mastered. The strings are clearly heard and no reverberation is present (I'm listening to these discs as I type, both on speakers and now on earphones); my only complaint is that the harpsichord could have been more prominently heard (but the strings are the point here!). The solo violin parts emerge nicely from the background without being excessively 'up front' (although I actually usually prefer the latter).



In summary, for a vintage recording from a highly respected group of musicians playing together for 20 years and offered at the price listed, this is a superb deal. The overall rating should be at least 4*, so I am just upping the average to the level."