Albinoni may be best known for his Adagio for Organ and Strings, used in the movie Platoon. The Adagio is an arrangement by musicologist Remo Giazotto, who discovered a fragment of a work while researching for an Albinoni biography. In actuality it is a work composed by Giazotto but attibuted to Albinoni by him to give the work more ‘authenticity’. While a beautiful work, if that is all that you know of Albinoni, you are missing a lot. The closest comparison may be of the works of Vivaldi, and the recommended works are baroque gems.

Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music give an original instruments performance of the Opus 9 Concertos. This is apparently the first recording of this work on period instruments, and is a full price 2 CD set. Well worth the price, though. Also available as an MP3 Album.

 

The 2 CD Budget Set by I Musici is also a good recording, and includes the famous arrangement of the Albinoni Adagio. The recordings are from the 1960’s, and are of a more romantic vein than baroque, but still is a nice CD. Comes in a bargain MP3 Album also.

 

The Bargain Adagio Collection, ‘Adagio and Concerti’ from DG features the Adagio along with various works from the Opus 7 and 9 Concertos, and is a nice sampler if you want a single CD.