Lesson 68: Vivaldi Concerti, Part 1 — RV 443 in C major

• Learn the brilliant opening Allegro of Vivaldi's RV 443 — the most-played recorder concerto.
• Play the solo line against a recording of the tutti (orchestra) sections, so the concerto's dialogue between soloist and ensemble is in the practice from the start.
• Identify three places where the soloist must not dominate — where the line is accompaniment to a continuo or a second voice.

• Lesson 67 — triple tonguing (for the fast figuration).
• Lesson 50 — altissimo range.
• A recording of the orchestral tutti to play against.

• Ritornello form.
• Soloist vs tutti awareness.
• Entry from silence.

A concerto is a conversation between one and many. The one has to remember the many are there.

Vivaldi wrote RV 443 for flautino — sopranino recorder, the tiny soprano-an-octave-up — with a string ensemble. Most modern recorder players perform it on alto (the original-pitch alto-as-sopranino reading), which is the version this lesson assumes. The piece is the recorder concerto of the canon: the one a competition juror expects, the one a recital programmes around, the one an audience member already knows.

What makes it hard is not the figuration. It is the awareness. You are a soloist with an orchestra; the orchestra plays without you for stretches; when they hand the line back, you must enter as if no time had passed. Concerto playing is ensemble playing scaled up.

The opening Allegro

RV 443's opening movement is a ritornello form: the tutti plays the main theme, the soloist enters with virtuosic figuration, the tutti returns. The soloist's first entry is a brilliant ascent — sixteenth notes, sequences, a sense of conversation answering the tutti's statement.

Soloist vs tutti — the awareness

The recorder is the smallest, most fragile instrument in any concerto. The tutti will always outweigh you. The work is not to outshine the orchestra; it is to lead a section, then disappear into it. Three principles:

• Solo entry from silence. The recorder enters after a tutti passage. Take the breath during the tutti; play the entry note as if it had been waiting for you. Do not enter timidly.
• Continuo passages. Some sections (especially in the slow movement) have you above a sustained continuo only. There, you are the music. Move freely; the continuo follows.
• Tutti accompaniment. Some passages have you doubling a violin line or providing rhythmic continuity above the tutti. There, you blend — do not try to be the solo voice.

Drill — entering after tutti

Record yourself playing the opening tutti theme on the recorder (or hum it; or find a recording). Then practise entering on the soloist's first note, in time, without warming up the breath in the bar before the entry. The entry must be ready, not built up to.

Practice plan

Week 1 — learn the solo line, slowly

Four sessions, Lesson 51's hardest-bar procedure. The soloist's figuration is the technical content; master it before adding the orchestral awareness.

Week 2 — play against a recording

Find or make a recording of the orchestral part (a piano reduction, a play-along track, or a friend at the keyboard). Practise entries, breath plans during tutti sections, and the points where you must not dominate.

Week 3 — the complete first movement

End-to-end runs of the Allegro with the recording, at performance tempo (quarter = 120 to 132). Record yourself; listen for the entry quality.

Now play these

Vivaldi: Concerto in C major, RV 443 — Largo

The slow movement of the same concerto. Lyrical, continuo-supported. The soloist leads throughout.

Vivaldi: Concerto RV 443 — Largo (early-intermediate edition)

A simplified edition for comparison. Useful as a re-orientation when the full version overwhelms.

Vivaldi: Concerto in C major, RV 443 — complete

The whole concerto, three movements. Use as reference; the lesson teaches movement I only.

When the opening Allegro of RV 443 plays end-to-end against a recording of the tutti, with clean entries from silence and at least three identified do-not-dominate passages played as accompaniment, move on to Lesson 69.