Albinoni was a Baroque composer who had a financially rather well-cushioned life, thanks to the shares he inherited in his father’s stationery firm, which manufactured playing cards, among other ...

Film soundtracks from Flashdance to Gallipoli have called upon the stately spare sadness of Albinoni’s Adagio, so much so that it has been denuded of meaning. The work itself isn’t even authentic.

Albinoni was a Baroque composer who had a financially rather well-cushioned life, thanks to the shares he inherited in his father’s stationery firm, which manufactured playing cards, among other ...