Tomaso (Giovanni) Albinoni

(1671 - 1751)

Italian composer. His teachers are not known, though Giovanni Legrenzi is a likely possibility. His family was wealthy and landed, and Tomaso was able to devote himself to the life of a dedicated amateur ("il dilettante veneto," as he was known). He began to attract attention with his op. 2 (Sinfonie e concerti a cinque,1700) and with a prodigious number of operas-first in Venice (Zenobia,1694; Tigrane,1697), then in other Italian cities (Rodrigo in Algeri,Naples, 1702; Griselda,Florence, 1703). Throughout the first two decades of the 18th century his operas, symphonies, concertos, and cantatas made him widely known, and his works were increasingly performed outside Italy from around 1720. In 1722 he was invited to Munich to conduct his I veri amiciand Il trionfo dell'amoreas part of the wedding celebration of Prince-Elect Karl Albert and Maria Amalia. He appears to have stopped composing around 1740, and he spent his last years in Venice. He composed more than fifty works for the theater (other titles include Vespetta e Pimpinone,1708?; Didone abbandonata,Venice, 1725); the music for most of these is lost. Other works include some fifty concerti a cinque (including opp. 5, 7, 9, and 10); seventy-nine solo and ensemble sonatas; balletti; solo cantatas (including the twelve cantatas op. 4); a three-voice Mass; and a Magnificat.




A Partial Tomaso (Giovanni) Albinoni Discography | The Concerto  | The Research Periods