Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 5

Featuring

Yakov Kreizberg
Julia Fischer
Pieter-Jan Belder
Nederlands Kamerorkest
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was appointed leader in Archbishop Colloredo's orchestra in Salzburg at the age of 16, with an annual salary of 150 florins.

Compositional Technique

The final movement of Mozart's Violin Concerto in A, K.219, includes an 'alla turca' section where low strings imitate a rod-beaten drum using 'col legno' technique, reflecting popular Ottoman Janissary music.

Composition History

The Violin Concerto in B flat, K.207, dated April 14, 1773, is the earliest solo concerto in Mozart's catalogue, written a month after his return from concert travels in Italy.

Performer Biography

Julia Fischer, the violinist on this album, began her musical studies before her fourth birthday, receiving her first violin lesson from Helge Thelen and piano lessons from her mother.

Compositional Technique

Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, K.207 and K.211, feature virtuoso semiquaver and demisemiquaver passages in the violin part, which are absent in his later concertos.

Compositional Technique

Mozart's three violin concertos composed between October and December 1775 were likely planned as a cycle, indicated by their close composition dates and systematic key planning (G, D, A major).

Interpretation

The performers chose to record Concertos K.207 and K.211 with harpsichord accompaniment due to their distinctive Baroque-like character and less independent viola and cello parts.