Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concertos No. 20 & No. 23
Lars Vogt, piano
Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg
Ivor Bolton, conductor
Lars Vogt is one of the most distinguished German
contemporary pianists. His distinct enthusiasm for
chamber music is a welcome change to the pure virtuoso
skills and the limited range of grand gestures
displayed by a mere “ivory tickler”. His views allow
us to expect especially accomplished Mozart interpretations,
as the “pieces of luck” presented here show.
Together with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg
conducted by Ivor Bolton, he made two live recordings
in Salzburg (K. 488 from the opening concert
of the Karajan anniversary year in January 2008, K.
466 from the Mozart matinees during the Salzburg
Festival in 2008).
Motion, drama
and balance
The two works performed here are the
most popular piano concertos stemming
from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s pen. In the
polarity of their fundamental emotional character,
they present, so to speak, the entire spectrum
of Mozartean art. Like Joseph Haydn,
Mozart also composed great symphonies,
string quartets and sacred works. Although his
oeuvre is many times smaller than Haydn’s,
it
is of equal status and demonstrates the highest
inspiration. And yet: when one considers
what Mozart’s most unsurpassed works are, it
is his operas and solo concertos, especially the
piano concertos, that first come to mind. As
wonderful as Haydn’s creations in these genres
may be, they seldom achieve Mozart’s heights.
It is not easy to enumerate the reasons for this
because in the area of logic, of argumentation
– which was one of the unsurpassed strengths
of Haydn as a musician – the question cannot
be decided.
I see one reason in Haydn’s gentle piety.
Mozart’s frivolity is commonly known. He
handles all facets of human existence with
ease, expressing them assuredly and uninhibitedly.
Can one imagine a Don Giovanni by
Haydn, or from another of Mozart’s contemporaries?
The very idea brings a smile to the
face. Not for another century would a much
more one-sided talent, Richard Strauss, take
up the thread once again. The drama and
theatricality of Mozart’s music has often been
discussed – e.g. the contrast between soli and
tutti in his solo concertos. Particularly in the
Concerto in D Minor, such contrast can be
seen in its most subtle as well as apparent
forms. Take the first movement: the orchestra’s
material is its own and remains its own.
The solo part has its own role in this movement.
It retains its individuality when confronting
the orchestra, remaining unmistakably
‘on course’ throughout the finely woven
passages with the wind solos.
The Concerto in D Minor was the only one
of Mozart’s piano concertos that remained
in the repertoire after his death. Beethoven
wrote two cadenzas for it; his first-movement
cadenza splendidly transforms Mozart’s voice
into one that expresses the Faustian dimensions
of his own emotional world. In the romantic
period, minor keys were loved above
all – in contrast to the bright illumination of
the classic era. One must only look at Mendelssohn
or Schumann’s works. The Concerto
in D Minor rapidly gained standing as an
eminent predecessor of Beethoven. It was – just
like Don Giovanni – absorbed by those with
the restless yearning and continual striving
for the nocturnal and mysterious visions of
E.T.A. Hoffmann and others like him. The
Concerto in A Major also has its place here –
not because of its overall key, but because of
its slow movement in F-sharp Minor, which
likewise captured the hearts of following generations
with its infinitely tender, dark intensity
and introverted tone painting.
It is enlightening to note that our highly
sheltered concert life is still primarily influenced
by the spirit of the romantic – despite
all revolutionary attempts to regain authentic
music-making practice. Between the romantic
era, its late outliers and our age, we find
the adventure of the modern: the attempt to
find as many ways as possible of escaping the
captivation of sentimentality and traditional
laws; the call to burn all bridges to yesterday
and to overthrow the gods of the past. The
modern age left audiences behind with its
many faces and arrogant ambitions. In part,
it negated or in part forgot attributes like “directly
experiential context”, “beauty” or “unprejudiced
sensitivity for accessible narrative
art”. It is no surprise that contemporary composers
who pick up the thread of romantic
emotionality or the pure beauty of sound so
loved in earlier times are especially successful
today. It stands out that minor keys are preferred
more than ever (Pärt, Górecki, Vasks).
This probably means that the popularity of
certain works will not diminish (in the case
of Mozart’s piano concertos, the Concerto in
C Minor as well as the concertos K. 271 and
482 with their middle movements in minor
must also be mentioned. However, the Concerto
in D Minor is doubtless the frontrunner
due to its strongly contrasting, dramatically
surging minor-key middle section in the delightful
second movement in B-flat Major).
What a grandiose melody-writer Mozart
is, far superior to all of his contemporaries,
can particularly be heard in the Concerto in A
Major. The primary subject of the first movement
is on the one hand completely catchy,
characteristic and natural; on the other hand,
however, its exceptional inspiration is due to
the fact that it is no common melody that
simply anyone could have thought up. Just
as in his use of harmony, Mozart is a master
of keeping everything in balance. He never
lets any one mood dominate or burden the
whole. Everything always remains in motion.
Tension and relaxation in Mozart’s melodies
is always articulated naturally; no harmony
lasts too long – in contrast to passages found
in Cherubini or even Beethoven (in his enthusiasm…)
(which caused unromantic satirists
like Erik Satie to create wonderful musical
commentaries). Mozart’s melodies are
particularly amazing and beautiful because
he never succumbs to the lethargy of an “Ah,
linger on, thou art so fair”.
Mozart is simply not a romantic composer,
but always had both feet solidly on
the ground. At the same time, he always
went beyond the customary to transcend the
conditions of existence. How could it be any
different with a man who cultivated such an
exceptional relationship to the boundaries of
earthly life? On April 4, 1787, not all too long
after the composition of the two works discussed
here, Mozart wrote to his father:
“Because death (to be precise) is the true and
ultimate purpose of our life, I have started getting
to know this true best friend of man for
several years, becoming so well acquainted with
him that not only is his image no longer horrifying
to me, but is quite calming and comforting!
and I thank my God that he has granted me
the happiness to create the opportunity to get to
know him as the key to our true blessedness. – I
never go to bed without realizing that (as young
as I am) I may not live to see the next day – and
no person who knows me can say that I am surly
or sad – and I thank my creator daily for this
blessedness and sincerely wish every one of my
fellowmen this experience as well.”
The concertos in D Minor and A Major were
composed during Mozart’s happy period in
Vienna when he celebrated great successes
as a virtuoso. Of course, he wrote them for
himself. He first performed the Concerto in D
Minor on February 11, 1785 in one of his own
‘Academy’ subscription concerts. A good ten
years later, on March 11, 1795, the stormy
young Beethoven would perform it for Mozart’s
widow Konstanze. Mozart presumably
premiered the Concerto in A Major, completed
on March 2, 1786, in the same month. He
wrote these works “for a small circle of music
lovers”. From April 1786 on, his star as a virtuoso
in Vienna began to descend, however,
and he was soon no longer en vogue. (Graf
Arco, Head Chef at the Salzburg court of
Archbishop Colloredo and Mozart’s superior,
had expressly warned Mozart in 1781 when he
was about to move to Vienna: “…believe me,
you are letting yourself be too bedazzled; – a
person’s fame lasts only for a short time – one
receives praise right from the start and gains
much, that is true – but for how long? – after
a few months, the Viennese once again want
something new.” ) The further history of this
immortal music takes place post mortem.
Werner Egk, Bavaria’s most exceptional opera
composer after Richard Strauss, found a
good likeness for the role that Mozart’s music
has played and will continue to play:
In a profoundly moving verse, poet Hölty
extols the heartwarming green of a tiny box
tree in an icy winter garden:
“Only you,
my tiny box tree,
raise your green crown
to mock winter’s power!
Thus does Mozart bloom
as well in a world of ice and iron;
and will do so in all times to come.”
Christoph Schlüren
Translation: Elizabeth Gahbler