Mozart : Concertos pour piano n°14 et n°27

Description

When Mozart abruptly left the service of Prince-Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg in May 1781, he was convinced that he would easily find fame and fortune in Vienna. Contrary to the grim picture his father had painted of Viennese fickleness as a warning, during the following few years he was favorably spared in what he called the "Klavierland". Although he spent money almost as quickly as he earned it, he was, for a time at least, a shrewd businessman, and he ensured his promotion under the dual hat of composer and solo pianist with a magnificent series of concertos written mainly for his own concerts in Vienna. At one of his first subscription concerts or "academies" in Vienna, on March 3, 1782, he performed his very first piano concerto, K.175, now equipped with a new finale, a jaunty theme and variations in a popular style crafted to charm his new audience. This was later published separately as the Rondo in D major K.382. "It is a charming and exuberant virtuoso piece, even though it also features a magnificent variation in a minor key, and an Adagio variation towards the end," says Ingrid Jacoby. Mozart reported in a letter to his father that the Rondo caused a "stir" among the Viennese elite. (Extract from the Booklet - Text by Richard Wigmore - Translation: Noémie Gatzler).