Mozart: Violin Concertos

Featuring

Giovanni Antonini
Isabelle Faust
Il Giardino Armonico
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Compositional Technique

Mozart often subverted the traditional rondeau form, for example, by introducing an unexpected Andante in K216 or an 'alla turca' passage in K219.

Compositional Technique

Mozart's violin concertos show influences from Italian composers like Tartini and Locatelli, French styles from opéras-comiques and rondeaux, and Bohemian composers such as Mysliveček and Vanhal.

Composition History

The five 'official' violin concertos by Mozart, including K211, K216, K218, and K219, were long thought to all date from 1775, though the First Concerto K207 is now known to be from 1773.

Composition History

Mozart's Adagio K261 was likely composed in 1776 at the request of violinist Antonio Brunetti, who found the original Adagio of the Fifth Concerto too 'artificial'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Mozart's sense of dramaturgy and vocality, honed in opera, took precedence over mere virtuosity in his concertos.

Compositional Technique

Mozart reused themes from his violin concertos in later works, including his opera Così fan tutte, demonstrating their enduring significance to him.

Composer Biography

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, son and pupil of the leading music pedagogue of the century, Leopold Mozart, served as Konzertmeister (leader) of the Salzburg orchestra from 1769 to 1777.