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Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) · sheet music

  • Time 3/4
  • Levels 8–9
  • Passages 31

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Antonio Vivaldi, Italian baroque (1678–1741). The reading release has 31 passages from this piece at levels 8–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 7–22 at level 9.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino).

  1. Hands together · bars 1–4 level 8
  2. The hardest bars · bars 7–22 level 9

How to play Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino)

  1. Tempo:Choose a gentle, walking pace in three. The aria should feel like an unhurried song, never a dance.
  2. Right hand:Treat the right hand as a singer. Shape each phrase in one breath and lighten the note at the end of each phrase.
  3. Left hand:The left hand stands in for strings that play in a detached style. Practice it alone with a short, light touch so it keeps the pulse without covering the tune.
  4. Hands together:Listen for the right hand floating above the left-hand pulse. If the two hands sound equal, lower the left hand.
  5. Rhythm:Feel three beats in each measure with a slight lean on the first. Some phrases begin before the beat, so count carefully.
  6. Dynamics:Use small swells within a phrase rather than large contrasts. Baroque vocal lines breathe in small gestures.
  7. Pedal:Use little or no pedal. Clean finger legato in the right hand and a short left hand match the strings better.
  8. Practice:Sing the right-hand line first, then play it alone. When the shape is clear, add the left hand, and only then try a few small ornaments on repeated phrases.

Common mistakes

  • Playing the left-hand accompaniment as loudly as the tune. Fix: Practice the left hand softly and keep the right hand clearly on top.
  • Dragging the tempo to sound expressive. Fix: Keep a steady pulse and put the expression in the shaping of each phrase.
  • Smearing the line with the sustain pedal. Fix: Remove the pedal and connect the notes with fingers alone.

Structure: opera aria (here in a piano arrangement)

In the opera the aria is sung by one character with strings and continuo, and the strings play in a detached style beneath the voice. On the page the vocal line becomes the right-hand melody, with the string parts reduced for the left hand. Its text turns on two feelings, joy at a coming reunion and sorrow at being apart.

1 · The hope of reunion
Anastasio imagines seeing his beloved again; play the long right-hand phrases as if singing them in one breath.
2 · The pain of parting
The text turns to the grief of separation; let the phrase endings fall away softly without slowing the pulse.

About Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino)

Vedrò con mio diletto is an aria from Vivaldi's opera Il Giustino, written for the 1724 Carnival season and first performed at the Teatro Capranica in Rome on January 23, 1724. Nicolò Beregan's libretto had first been set by Legrenzi in 1683, and Albinoni and Handel later set it too.

The aria belongs to Anastasio, emperor of Byzantium, a soprano role at the premiere. In the opera he is jealous of the peasant-turned-hero Giustino, whom he suspects of designs on his wife Arianna; here, parted from her, he looks forward to the joy of seeing her again and grieves at the separation.

Full of tender lyricism, the aria has become a recital piece, recorded by countertenors such as Philippe Jaroussky and Jakub Józef Orliński and by the contralto Sonia Prina. Arrangements for instruments and piano are common, and the page here uses one.

  • The same libretto was set by four composers over several decades: Legrenzi, Vivaldi, Albinoni and Handel.
  • Anastasio was written as a soprano role, though countertenors and contraltos now sing the aria most often.
  • Jaroussky's recording, with Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi, appeared on his 2006 album Passion.

Why the first passage is level 8

That passage is level 8 rather than 7 because it leaps a major third plus an octave, its chords go beyond simple triads.

These passages are in 3/4 with two sharps and pair a long-note melody with a detached accompaniment. Read for the melody first, then fit the accompaniment under it.

Questions about Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino)

How hard is Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino) to play?
Its passages grade from level 8 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 7–22 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino) for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because it leaps a major third plus an octave and its chords go beyond simple triads.
What key and time signature is Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino) in?
The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
Who composed Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino)?
Antonio Vivaldi, Italian baroque (1678–1741). Vedrò con mio diletto is an aria from Vivaldi's opera Il Giustino, written for the 1724 Carnival season and first performed at the Teatro Capranica in Rome on January 23, 1724.
Can I practice Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino) online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 31 graded passages from Vedrò con mio diletto (Il Giustino) in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What is the aria about?
The emperor Anastasio, parted from his wife Arianna, looks forward to the joy of seeing her again and mourns their separation.
Which opera is it from?
It comes from Il Giustino, RV 717, which premiered in Rome in 1724. The opera follows the peasant Giustino, who rises in the emperor's service and stirs Anastasio's jealousy.
Who sings Vedrò con mio diletto today?
It is a recital favorite for countertenors and contraltos; well-known recordings include Philippe Jaroussky, Jakub Józef Orliński and Sonia Prina.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 31 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 8
bars 1–4 both hands · bars 7–18 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 25–28 both hands · bars 31–34 both hands · bars 45–48 both hands · bars 49–52 both hands · bars 65–72 both hands · bars 65–68 both hands · bars 69–72 both hands · bars 81–84 both hands
Level 9
bars 7–22 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands · bars 25–36 both hands · bars 25–32 both hands · bars 29–32 both hands · bars 33–36 both hands · bars 41–44 both hands · bars 41–48 both hands · bars 43–50 both hands · bars 61–64 both hands · bars 73–76 both hands · bars 73–80 both hands · bars 77–80 both hands · bars 81–88 both hands · bars 85–88 both hands · bars 89–92 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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