The Venetian Albinoni composed nine sets of instrumental pieces from the late 17th century until 1735, and thereafter appears to have concentrated mainly on works for the operatic stage. His op.6 set of violin sonatas entitled Trattenimenti armonici per camera (‘harmonious entertainment’) were published c.1711 by the Amsterdam publisher Etienne Roger under the auspices of the composer himself, so we may be allowed to suppose these pieces were particularly esteemed by him.
Sergio Balestracci’s performance of the complete op. 6 on recorder and voiceflute follows a well-established tradition of playing what is ostensibly string music on woodwind instruments, and demonstrates how persuasive this approach can be. In all cases the individual sonatas ...
