Mozart Piano Concertos - Assessment and Reception

Assessment and Reception

Mozart's development of the piano concerto created a complex form that was arguably never to be surpassed: of the later composers (especially after Beethoven, who took note of Mozartian procedure) only Brahms really paid attention to his classicism as expressed in the formal structure of these works. Their value as music and popularity does not, naturally enough, rest upon their formal structure though, but on the musical content. Mozart's piano concertos are filled with assured transition passages, modulations, dissonances, Neapolitan relationships and suspensions. This technical skill, combined with a complete command of his (admittedly rather limited) orchestral resources, in particular of the woodwind in the later concertos, allowed him to create a variety of moods at will, from the comic operatic nature of the end of KV. 453, through to the dream-like state of the famous "Elvira Madigan" Andante from KV. 467, through to the majestic expansiveness of his "emperor" concerto, KV. 503. In particular, these major works of Mozart could hardly fail to be influenced by his own first love, i. e. opera, and the Mozart of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte is to be found throughout them. Mozart himself clearly put great value on the concertos, some of which he guarded carefully. For example, No. 23 was not published in his lifetime, and the score was kept within his family and close circle of friends whom he asked not to give it away.

The qualities of the piano concertos, although for some time undervalued (especially during the nineteenth century), have come to be more fully appreciated in the last 50 years or so; and the list of notable names that have contributed cadenzas to the concertos (e.g. Beethoven, Hummel, Landowska, Britten, Brahms, Schnittke etc.) attests to this fact. Beethoven was clearly impressed by them, even if the anecdotal story about his comments to Ferdinand Ries about no. 24 is legendary, his concerto no. 3 was clearly inspired by Mozart's no. 24; and his entire concerto production took its point of departure as the Mozartian concept.

Despite their renown, the Mozart piano concertos are not without some detractors. Even amongst his mature examples, there are examples of movements that can be argued to fall short of his normally high standards. This is particularly true for some of the last movements, which can appear to be too light to balance the first two movements - an example being the last movement of No. 16. Girdlestone considered that even popular movements such as the last movement to No. 23 did not really satisfactorily solve the inherent structural problems of rondo last movements, and he suggests that it was not until the last movement of the Jupiter Symphony that Mozart produced a truly great last movement. Similarly, a few of the slow movements have sometimes been considered to be repetitive (e.g. Hutchings' view of the Romanzas in general, and that to No. 20 in D minor in particular - an assessment to be later disputed by Grayson).

Today, at least three of these works (nos 20, 21 and 23) are among the most recorded and popular classical works in the repertoire, and with the release of several complete recordings of the concertos in recent years, notably by Philips and Naxos, some of the less-well known concertos may also increase in popularity.