Mozart: Piano Concerto Nos. 3 and 8 / Piano Concerto in D Major

Featuring

Wolfgang Brunner
Salzburger Hofmusik
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Composer's Artistic Vision

For Mozart and his contemporaries, composing and performing were seen more as crafts, and borrowing ideas from other composers was a sign of esteem, not frowned upon.

Instruments

The harpsichord used for two concertos on this recording is a 1989 instrument by Michel Latcham, modeled after Flemish designs, while the fortepiano for K107/1 is a 1988 copy of an Anton Walter instrument from around 1790.

Composition History

Mozart's Piano Concerto in D major K40 is a 'pasticcio' (pastiche) arranged in 1767 from three solo piano pieces by Leontzi Honauer, Johann Gottfried Eckard, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

Interpretation

On this recording, Mozart's written-out basso continuo part for the 'Lützow Concerto' is only performed in certain places, with the rest improvised to suit the musical situation, as was common in his time.

Composer Biography

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was a significant role model for the young Mozart, who once characterized him by saying, 'He is the father; we are the boys. Those of us who can do things right have learnt to do so from him.'

Compositional Technique

Mozart's first seven piano concertos, including two on this album, are arrangements of piano works by other composers, not original compositions in the strict sense.

Performer Biography

Wolfgang Brunner, the soloist and conductor, is a renowned harpsichord and fortepiano soloist who won first prizes at the International C.P.E. Bach Competition in Hamburg (1988) and the International Mozart Competition in Bruges (1989).