Mozart Piano Concerto 20 (2/4) On Period Instruments

John Gibbons Piano Orchestrra of the 18th century Frans Bruggen conductor
The Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1785. The first performance was at the Mehlgrube Casino in Vienna on February 11, 1785, with the composer as the soloist.
The concerto is scored for solo piano, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. As is typical with concertos, it is in three movements: 1. Allegro
2. Romanze
3. Allegro assai

The first movement starts off the concerto in the dark tonic key of D minor with the strings restlessly but quietly building up to a full forte. The theme is quickly taken up by the piano soloist and developed throughout the long movement. A slightly brighter mood exists in the second theme, but it never becomes jubilant. The timpani further heightens the tension in the coda before the cadenza. The movement ends on a quiet note.

The 'Romanze' second movement is a seven-part rondo (ABACABA) and begins brightly with a strong B-flat major melody. A contrasting darker section toys with the relative minor key of G minor. The earlier theme is brought in again expectantly towards the end of the movement.

The final movement, a rondo, begins with the solo piano rippling upward in the home key before the full orchestra replies with a furious section. (This piano "rippling" is known as the Mannheim Rocket and is a string of eighth notes (d-f-a-d-f) followed by a quarter note (a). A second melody is touched upon by the piano where the mood is still dark but strangely restless. A contrasting cheerful melody in F major ushers in not soon after, introduced by the orchestra before the solo piano rounds off the lively theme. A series of sharp piano chords snaps the bright melody and then begin passages in D minor on solo piano again, taken up by full orchestra. Thereafter follows the same format as above, with a momentary pause for introducing the customary cadenza. After the cadenza, the mood clears considerably and the bright happy melody is taken up this time by the winds. The solo piano repeats the theme before a full orchestral passage develops the passage and thereby rounding up the concerto with a jubilant D major finish.

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• 466
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• HIP

[Cherodar]

Just a little question--if the use of period instruments is an effort towards authenticity, why the Beethoven cadenza? I mean, I personally love the Beethoven cadenza and think this sounds great as a whole, but I had been expecting something a bit shorter and more improvisatory.

[elias12186]

Word. I am tired of hearing the same cadenzas over and over.

[RojoEduardo]

Mozart = Mazter

[lindzyIsAwesome]

@elias12186 the candenza was written about 20 years later and the piano chenged quite a bit

[perpieta]

Wonderful! Thank you for uploading this.

[iotuella]

@elias12186 the version that plays ivan klansky has a really great cadenza, a little different from beeth's one.

[jnamadeus]

Plus, in this case we know that Beethoven played this concerto himself, and added cadenzas as we would expect...

[jnamadeus]

Nice playing here!

I have a comment on what you're discussing. In this work, there is a lot of 'Beethoven' texture (see for example mvt. 3), so the cadenza sounds fine in my view... After all, it's not that bad to play some Mozart in a more 'Beethovenian' style, some Scarlatti in a more 'Handelian' style etc. The HIP is about playing appropriately within the period and the 'school' of the work. Some personal deviations are welcome!

[Cherodar]

Yeah that's true... but seeing as the authentic performance movement claims to be all about recreating the sound that the composer himself had in mind, I would expect them to make the same effort in choosing the actual notes that they play.

[adriathan1994]

well beethoven's piano was very close to mozart's so.... there is no problem :P

[Xero121690]

Thank you for the explanation on this musical work.

[comic4relief]

I don't know about you but my imagination reels at wondering what Mozart played on the piano that day. He probably meant to astound and amaze and bring up the spirit of the occasion, and felt like doing so-- and did,...