Mozart Double Piano Concerto

Classical Music / Concertos

Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in E-flat major, K. 365/316a, is simply known as Mozart Double Piano Concerto (No. 10). It is not known when the composer completed this concerto but a research by Alan Tyson, a Glasgow-born British musicologist who specialized in studies of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, shows that cadenzas for the first and third movements are written in Mozart and his father Leopold Mozart's handwriting on a type of paper used between August 1775 and January 1777 (Wiki).  Most sources, however, including Alan Tyson's book Mozart: Studies of the Autograph Scores and Lindeman's The Concerto: A Research and Information Guide (2006) indicate that this concerto was composed in 1779. 

It is presumed that Mozart wrote it to play with his sister Maria Anna ("Nannerl"). He later performed it in a private concert with his pupil Josepha Barbara Auernhammer, an Austrian pianist and composer. 

 

Featured Video: 

I've listened to some interpretations, but consider the best this one played by Daniel Barenboim and Vladimir Ashkenazy, "Barenboim, Ashkenazy: "Barenboim, Ashkenazy: Mozart  Double Concerto - Documentary of 1966", with the English Chamber Orchestra. From 32.58 to 51.16:  32:58 Double Concerto, First movement 43:14 Double Concerto, Second movement 51:16 Double Concerto, Third movement  This video was taken in March 1966, when Barenboim and Ashkenazy were then two great young pianists and good friends.  (Youtube, uploaded by Allegro Films by Christopher Nupen. Accessed March 11, 2020.)

NOTE: 

Please watch on Youtube! Unfortunately, this video is not available for display on other websites. Thank you.  Here!

 

Resource:

Piano Concerto No. 10 (Mozart). en.wikipedia.org

 

(c) March 2022. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.  

Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4

Classical Music / Piano Concertos

Wolfgang A. Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began his series of preserved piano concertos with these four that he wrote in Salzburg, K. 37 and 39-41, the autographs dated by his father Leopold Mozart as having been completed in April (K. 37) and July (K. 39–41) of 1767.  Although these works were long considered to be original, they are now known to be orchestrations of sonatas by various German virtuosi. The works on which the concertos are based were largely published in Paris, and presumably Mozart and his family became acquainted with them or their composers during their visit to Paris in 1763–64.

The young Mozart seems to have begun to learn how to cope with the structural problems of composing in the piano concerto form by using movement from the sonatas of other composers. It may be that his father had devised this as a compositional teaching method.


Here's a link: Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4, K.37, 39-41. Produced by Decca in 12 videos. Artists: Robert Levin, harpsichord; The Academy of Ancient Music with Christopher Hogwood, conductor & director.  Accessed July 28, 2020.




Resource: 

Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4 (Mozart). en.wikipedia.org. 



(c) April 2018.  Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1

Classical Music / Piano Concerto

Hungarian composer Franz Liszt composed Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, over a 26-year period; the main themes date from 1830, while the final version is dated 1849. The concerto consists of four movements and lasts approximately 20 minutes. It was first performed on February 17, 1855, in Weimar ith Liszt at the piano and Hector Berlioz conducting.

Below, piano virtuoso Martha Argerich, remarkably interprets Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1. Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai Enrico Fagone, conductor.





Martha Argerich interpreting the same piece, Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1,  with Daniel Barenboim conducting, this time with Vienna Philharmonic. Musicverein, Golden Hall, December 2017.(Uploaded by Cristian Radu. Accessed Nov 13, 2018.)

Video Credit:

Martha Argerich - Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major. Youtube, uploaded by Excellent Interpretation. Uploaded by Max Lima. Accessed January 13, 2020.

Resource:
Piano Concerto No. 1 (Liszt). en.wikipedia.org. Accessed January 14, 2018.



(c) 2018. Tel Asiado. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Grieg Piano Concerto

Classical Music Datebook: April 3

Edvard Grieg premieres his Piano Concerto on April 3, 1869, in Copenhagen. The concert was produced by Edmund Neupert, with Holger Simon Paulli conducting. Some sources say that Grieg himself, an excellent pianist, was the soloist, but he was unable to attend the premiere due to another commitments with an orchestra in Oslo (formerly, Christiania) Among those who did attend the premiere were the Danish composer Niels Gade and the Russian pianist Anton Rubinstein.

The concerto in three movements:

1. Allegro molto moderato (A minor)
2. Adagio (D flat major)
3. Allegro moderato molto e marcato (A minor → F major → A major)

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor

Classical Music / Piano Concertos


Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, was written by W.A. Mozart in 1785. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the soloist in the first performance of his own Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor (K. 466), on February 11, 1785, in Mehlgrube Casino,  Vienna. He performed it without any rehearsal and the music sheets came directly to the concert hall from the copyists.

Few days after the first performance, Leopold, the composer's father, visiting in Vienna, wrote to his daughter Nannerl about her brother's recent success: "[I heard] an excellent new piano concerto by Wolfgang, on which the copyist was still at work when we got there, and your brother didn't even have time to play through the rondo because he had to oversee the copying operation."

Other works by Mozart in this key include the Fantasia K. 397 for piano, Requiem, a Kyrie, the aria "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" from the opera The Magic Flute and parts of the dark opera Don Giovanni. It is the first of two piano concertos he wrote in a minor key, with No. 24 in C minor the other.

Samuel Barber Piano Concerto

Classical Music Milestone: September 24

The Piano Concerto, Op. 38, of Samuel Barber was first performed on September 24, 1962, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lincoln Center, New York City.  John Browning, soloist, and Erich Leinsdorf, conducting. It was commissioned by the music publishing company G. Schirmer Inc. honouring the centenary of their founding. It was the opening festivities of the Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall), the first hall built at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

American composer Samuel Barber studied piano and conducting, and singing with his aunt, a famous contralto of her time. he later developed a good baritone voice. He began composing when still a child, and later studied at the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia, graduating in 1932.

Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.5 in F Major

Classical Music / Piano Concerto


The Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Op. 103, popularly known as "The Egyptian", was Camille Saint-Saens' last piano concerto. He wrote it in 1896, 20 years after his Fourth Piano Concerto. This concerto is nicknamed "The Egyptian" for two reasons. Firstly, Saint-Saëns composed it in the temple town of Luxor while on one of his winter vacations to Egypt. Secondly, the music is among his most exotic, displaying influences from Spanish, Javanese, and Middle-eastern music. The composer said that the piece represented a sea voyage.  He was the soloist himself at its first performance in June 3, 1896, in Paris. It was a popular and critically successful.

Below's video is Camille Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Op. 103, 'The Egyptian'
with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra performing, conducted by Andris Nelsons, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, pianist. This performance was recorded 16th of November 2011, Concertgebouw Amsterdam.






Video Credit:

Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No.5 - Thibaudet / Concertgebouw Orchestra - Live Concert HD. YouTube, uploaded by AVROTROS Klassiek. Accessed December 14, 2012

Resource:

Camille Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Op. 103. en.wikipedia.org


Posted June 3, 2012.  Latest update: March 12, 2012. Tel.  

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1

Classical Music / Piano Concertos

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed the Piano Concerto No. 1in B♭ minor, Op. 23 between November 1874 and February 1875. It was revised in 1879 and in 1888. It was first performed on October 25, 1875, in Boston by Hans von Bülow after Tchaikovsky's desired pianist, Nikolai Rubinstein, criticised the piece. Rubinstein later withdrew his criticism and became a fervent champion of the work. It is one of the most popular of Tchaikovsky's compositions and among the best known of all piano concertos.

From 2021 to 2022, it served as the sporting anthem of the Russian Olympic Committee as a substitute of the country's actual national anthem as a result of the doping scandal that prohibits the use of its national symbols.

 

Featuring: 

The legendary pianist Martha Argerich performs Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1 (FULL), with Charles Dutoit, conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, 1975.

 

 

Brief History 

Tchaikovsky revised the concerto three times, the last in 1888, which is the version usually played. One of the most prominent differences between the original and final versions is that in the opening section, the chords played by the pianist, over which the orchestra plays the main theme, were originally written as arpeggios. Tchaikovsky also arranged the work for two pianos in December 1874; this edition was revised in 1888.

The work is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B♭, two bassoons, four horns in F, two trumpets in F, three trombones (two tenor, one bass), timpani, solo piano, and strings.

Structure.  The concerto follows the traditional form of three movements:

1. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito (B♭ minor – B♭ major)
2. Andantino semplice – Prestissimo – Tempo I (D♭ major)
3. Allegro con fuoco – Molto meno mosso – Allegro vivo (B♭ minor – B♭ major)

A standard performance lasts between 30 and 36 minutes, the majority of which is taken up by the first movement.

 

Resource: 

Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky).  en.wikipedia.org.   

(c) January 12, 2012. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op.30

Classical Music / Piano Concerto 

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 

The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 composed in 1909 by Sergei Rachmaninoff considered one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire. It is used in the 1996 film Shine, based on the life of pianist David Helfgott.

The video below is performed by piano virtuoso Martha Argerich, with Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.




Following the form of a standard concerto, the piece is in three movements: 0:28 - Allegro ma non tanto, 16:27 - Intermezzo: Adagio, and 27: 27 - Finale: Alla breve

Brahms Piano Concerto No.2

Classical Music Milestone: November 9

Composer Johannes Brahms is soloist in the first performance of his Piano Concerto No.2 at Budapest.

Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op.83 is a composition for solo piano with orchestral accompaniment. November 9, 1881 marks the day that the composer first performed it in Budapest, himself the soloist.   It is separated by a gap of 22 years from his first piano concerto.

He began work on the piece in 1878, completing it in 1881 while in Pressbaum near Vienna, Austria.  He dedicated this piece of music to his teacher, Eduard Marxsen.  The premiere was an immediate success. Brahms performed it in many cities across Europe soon after.

Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1

Classical Music / Piano Concerto

Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in  E, Op. 11, premiered with the composer himself as soloist.

Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, was first performed on 11 October 1830, in Warsaw Theatre, Poland, with the composer himself as soloist, during one of his "farewell" concerts before leaving his native land. It was the first of Chopin's two piano concertos to be published, and therefore given the designation of Piano Concerto "No. 1" at the time of publication. It was written immediately after what was later published, his famous Piano Concerto No. 2.

The legendary Martha Argerich plays Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E. Jacek Kaspszyk conducting Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra.  YouTube, uploaded by ClassicalRarities. Accessed November 16, 2019.