András Schiff: a Feast of Mozart

Programme

One of the most admired musicians of our time, András Schiff follows in Mozart’s footsteps, directing from both the piano and the podium.

Mozart and his new wife stopped in Linz for a few days after he had taken her home to meet his family. The local Count promptly organised a concert. “As I have not a single symphony with me”, wrote Mozart to his father, “I am writing another one at breakneck speed.” How lucky we are to have the masterpiece he came up with, which shows not a hint of rush or pressure.

To pave the way for the ‘Linz’ symphony, Schiff opens with the Piano Concerto No. 9, widely considered Mozart’s first great composition. Its soulful slow movement is filled with such emotion, the piano seems to sing.

The overture to Don Giovanni is another jewel of the repertoire written at astounding speed, reputedly on the morning of the opera’s premiere. It opens with the ominous chords that, at the climax of the story, announce the downfall of one of opera’s great antiheroes.

The dark drama of the Don Giovanni overture makes it the perfect companion to the evening’s second concerto, No. 20, which opens in the same stormy D minor key. Written for Mozart to perform himself, over the years this concerto has been a favorite with a succession of composer-performers, including Beethoven, Clara Schumann and Brahms, and today it’s a privilege for us to hear Schiff’s interpretation. “Joy untramelled… you’d pay to hear this man play the spoons”, wrote The Guardian on Schiff’s last Southbank Centre performance.

This concert is supported by Daan and Maggie Knottenbelt.