Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

As he often did, Mozart composed this unusually scored concerto for specific performers. In this case -- according to an ascription in his own handwriting on a special presentation copy -- for "Her Excellency, Her Ladyship, the Countess Lodron...and her daughters, their Ladyships the Countesses Aloysia and Giuseppa." And, as he frequently did on such occasions, each part was geared to the performer who would play it, with the degree of difficulty adjusted for differences in skill and experience. In this case, two of the solo parts are moderately difficult, while the third, for the younger of the two daughters, is more modest in its demands. Some confusion surrounds this concerto, since a version for two soloists also exists and is supposed to have been intended for performance by Mozart and his sister. Given the modest contribution of the third piano part, the work loses little in the transfer to just two soloists, and is frequently performed and recorded that way. That the solo parts do not require virtuoso performers in no way renders the work simple or unimaginative; maybe Mozart of all composers could best accommodate modest performing talent with brilliant composition.

The first movement opens with a typical barking opening and soon the combined presence of three soloists produces rich counterpoint. Midway through the movement, a cadenza combining all three is superbly effective and noticeably out of reach of any single performer. The second movement, an eight-minute adagio, is lyrical and melodic. A minuet-like rondo concludes the work, allowing each soloist considerable individual attention, but assigning most of the burden of building to a dramatic finale to the orchestra. Though barely out of his teens, Mozart here crafted a full-blown, mature concerto.