Mozart Momentum - 1785

When the 25-year-old Mozart arrived in Vienna in 1781, he was bowled over by its musical possibilities. The Austrian capital was then the center of the Western musical world, teeming with the finest composers and musicians from across Europe. It took just four years for him to prove himself among them. In 1785 alone, he composed some of his most astonishing and inventive piano concertos and chamber works, and it’s that music that Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra explore on this fascinating album. “By giving the piano a more heroic solo role, Mozart planted the seed for what was to become the Romantic piano concerto,” Andsnes tells Apple Music of the influential work housed here. “And he does a few things that are revolutionary and completely new.” Among them, Mozart introduced the then-exotic clarinet into his orchestrations, and wrote thrillingly technical challenges for the piano. “The E-Flat Concerto [No. 22], the third on this recording, features octave passages up and down the keyboard in both hands, which are very demanding,” reveals Andsnes. “Virtuosity became an important part of his expression and a mark of the quality of his music.”

The question of why Mozart’s music suddenly came of age in 1785 intrigues Andsnes. Responding to the sheer competition he faced in Vienna is, perhaps, a reason. “The D Minor and C Major Concertos were written just one month apart, but everything about them is so different,” says Andsnes. “The D Minor [No. 20] is so raw and dark, yet the C Major [No. 21] is so playful and, at the same time, majestic.” This album finds Andsnes reunited with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra after the hugely successful Beethoven Journey, released in 2015, which saw them record Beethoven’s complete piano concertos. Andsnes is drawn to the ensemble’s sense of adventure. “For this recording, I had so many thoughts and ideas in mind for the orchestra,” he says. "But in the end, they gave me a slightly different sound. They really inspired me by the way they changed the music’s color in a tenth of a second from something very open to lonely and intimate.” Read on as Andsnes guides us through the works on this extraordinary and revelatory recording.

Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466
“This is a very dramatic work. It’s one of only two piano concertos that Mozart writes in a minor key. Because it’s full of turmoil, it feels as though it’s related to works like Don Giovanni or the Requiem. For the first time, we see how Mozart separates soloist from orchestra—the soloist enters with very different, very lonely music. The second movement is in a major key and has one of those melodies that, when you walk out of the concert hall, you start singing because it’s so charming. In the middle section, there’s a dialogue between the wind instruments and the piano, which was new at the time and something Mozart would go on to develop. Although the ‘Rondo’ is back in the minor key, it’s not dark in the same way as the first movement. It finishes happy and brisk, as if Mozart wants us to forget what happened.”

Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467
“Mozart presents us with a very different world here. It’s fairytale-like and playful. And that second movement is so soothing. How could he compose something so beautiful? In the middle of this beauty, there are suddenly a few bars of aching harmonies, and it’s so painful. And then you’re back to this carefree atmosphere again. That’s Mozart. It’s these two faces: the tear in the one eye and the smile in the other.”

Fantasia in C Minor, K. 475
“This solo piano piece is unusual for Mozart. It goes from one episode to another without any specific form, so it probably gives us a good insight into what it was like to experience one of his improvisation sessions at the piano, where he would just sit down and play. It’s amazing how those enigmatic, dark octaves, which begin the piece, return at the end. It makes us feel that everything belongs together—but, in fact, there doesn’t seem to be any connection between the different episodes.”

Piano Quartet in G Minor, K. 478
“Mozart basically invented the piano quartet, and he wrote two of them, including this first one. There’s a real connection to Beethoven here. The first movement’s theme is quite elemental and not as chromatic as some of Mozart’s other pieces in minor keys. But there’s a really interesting dialogue between the piano and the strings, and the textures are quite symphonic in places. After the first movement, there’s a very soothing, wonderful ‘Andante’ and a very joyous virtuoso last movement scored in G major.”

Maurerische Trauermusik in C Minor, K. 477/479a
“A piece for orchestra, and it’s very interesting. It’s from the Freemasonry world, and Mozart creates these kinds of sonic columns. The music isn’t so much about the melody but the atmosphere and rituals. We find this kind of music in his opera The Magic Flute too. This piece has wonderful, mystical orchestration with really great colors.”

Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-Flat Major, K. 482
“This is Mozart’s longest piano concerto. It’s huge and technically challenging too. The first movement is very symphonic and multilayered. The second movement, though, is basically his greatest variation piece. It’s unbelievable. It’s in C minor, starting with muted strings presenting the theme, before going through so many wonderful variations. And then, we get to the end. It’s so painful that you feel it has to have some sort of release. That finally comes with a glimpse of C major that, for me, is like a kind of farewell to life. It’s one of his most touching pieces. With the last movement, Mozart gives us a melody you can whistle in the street. It’s a sort of hunting theme. It’s charming, but it features virtuosic and advanced piano writing. In the middle of this joyous movement, Mozart places a beautiful, intimate slower section, with clarinets at the forefront. And then, finally, we return to the hunting theme. For me, this is the most generous of all Mozart’s concertos.”