Concerto for oboe and strings in F major RV 455

The virtuosity
exhibited in Vivaldi’s oboe concertos is well beyond the level of any
of his oboe playing contemporaries, such as Albinoni and Marcello, who
wrote much less demanding works for their instrument. This leads us to
believe that these oboe playing composers were perhaps not up for the
task of performing Vivaldi’s works, or else they would have applied
similar playing techniques to their own concertos. It is known that the
oboe was held in high regard at the Ospedale della Pietà, the girls
orphanage in Venice where Vivaldi taught music, and the first oboe
teacher was already employed there as early as 1707. The standard at the
Pietà must have been exceptionally high, and although many of Vivaldi’s
oboe works are certainly meant for the students there, the manuscript
of RV 455 carries the dedication ‘per Sassonia’ (for Saxony). This could
refer to a specific performance of the concerto at the Court of
Dresden, where Vivaldi’s good friend, Pisendel, presided over musical
matters, and where the wind musicians were renowned for their skills.RV
455 carries the typical three movement fast-slow-fast concerto
structure, the outer movements characterised by an irregularity in
phrase structure. The slow movement shows off the oboe at its most
lyrical, with an elaborated solo accompanied by the violins alone. This
leads us into an unmarked allegro in the form of a giga with some
unusual elements and unexpected twists in the minor key.