At an early age he became proficient as a singer and, more notably, as a violinist, soon turning his hand to composition. Until his father's death in 1709, he was able to cultivate music more for pleasure than for profit, referring to himself as "dilettante", a term which in 18th century Italy was totally devoid of unfavorable connotations.

Under the terms of his father's will he was relieved of the duty (which he would normally have assumed as eldest son) to take charge of the family business, and this task devolved on to his younger brothers. Henceforth he was to be a full-time musician, who according to one report, at one time ran a successful academy of singing. He resided in Venice all his life, though visits to Florence (1703) and Munich (1722) are recorded. After a long period of inactivity he died in 1751.

In his youth Albinoni flirted unsuccessfully with the composition of church music. He first came to public notice as a composer when, in 1694, his first opera, "Zenobia, regina de Palmireni", was produced in Venice and his first collection of instrumental music ("Sonata a tre, op.1") appeared.

Thereafter he divided his attention almost equally between vocal composition (operas, serenatas and cantatas) and instrumental composition (sonatas and concertos). His vocal music circulated only in manuscript, apart from twelve cantatas published in 1702 as his op.4 and one cantata that appeared elsewhere, and was comparatively little known outside Italy. His instrumental music (108 works published as op. 1-3 and 5-10, plus 17 works published in "unauthorized" collections and about 50 authenticated works remaining in manuscript) enjoyed a vogue in northern Europe, particularly through the activity of publishing houses in Amsterdam and London. http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxalb.html