Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 23 (K488) and 24 (K491)

"On 24 March 1786 ... Mozart entered the Concerto in C minor, K491 in his catalogue. ... The expressive world of the opening movement is shaped above all by the first subject, with its dramatic leaps of a seventh and its lamenting chromatic lines. The Larghetto in E flat is a rondo where Mozart's treatment of the woodwind and horns is particularly striking. In the episodes in C minor and A flat major they almost form a second orchestra. ... Different instrumental groups are also clearly distinguished in the finale. A march-like theme of short, clipped phrases is elaborated and developed contrapuntally in five minor-key variations. Two major-key variations offer temporary brightness, but the coda clings resolutely to the minor key right up to the last chord — something that even the finale of the D minor concerto, K466 had not done. It is a conclusion that runs totally counter to the expectations of a period that was still adding a happy ending onto even the most tragic operatic plot" (CD notes by Jürgen Ostmann). View catalog record here!