Takacs-Nagy / Mozart / Manchester Camerata - V9: Piano Concertos [CD]

The three concertos featured on this album werecomposed together in 1782 / 83 - shortly afterMozart had left his patron and position in Salzburgto establish himself as a freelance composer andperformer in Vienna. The concertos were allperformed by the composer in a series ofsubscription concerts that he gave in the city. Allshare the same form - opening movement insonata form, slow movement in ternary form, anda bright rondo finale. Despite these similarities,though, each piece has it's own distinct characterand identity; such was the extent of Mozart'sgenius for invention. Although formally scored forstrings with wind, horns, trumpets, and timpani,Mozart also offered them to his publisher to beperformed 'a quatro' - for strings only. Thesewould be the last concertos he wrote in which thiswould be possible, and it is certainly likely that itreflected a need to earn greater income asopposed to being a purely artistic decision. As inthe rest of this series, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet isjoined by the Manchester Camerata and GáborTakács-Nagy, who open the album with a dazzlingperformance of the Overture to Die Entführungaus dem Serail, which dates from the same period.