Mozart Piano Concerto in D Minor, K. 466

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

Clarinet, Timpani, Performing, Trombone, Cello, Trumpet, Bassoon, Classicalmusic, Performing Arts, Arts, Violin, Flute, Piano, Conductor, Music, Weilerstein

4.9 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

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Summary

H.C. Robbins Landon, the great musicologist, once wrote about Mozart that his music was “an excuse for mankind's existence and a small hope for our ultimate survival." I couldn’t agree more, especially when it comes to a piece like the one we’re going to talk about today, Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor, NO. 20, or K. 466. These days, Mozart is still one of the most popular composers in the world, one of two composers almost anyone on the street could name off the top of their head. But it might surprise you to know that Mozart was not always so popular. During the 19th century, Mozart’s music was seen as too light, graceful, and even superficial by the stormy Romantics who wanted to probe the deepest and darkest feelings of humanity and the natural world, by extreme means if necessary. Only a few of Mozart’s works were played regularly during this time period, and this concerto was one of them. It’s easy to say why - it is one of only two Mozart Piano Concertos in a minor key, and its stormy and dramatic character allowed the Romantics to create fantastical stories to go along with the piece, and to connect it to the one Mozart opera that remained popular throughout the 19th century, Don Giovanni. Strangely enough, I see a similar thing happening today, among young lovers of classical music. I often see Mozart’s music being criticized on social media by younger musicians as being too light and superficial, and sometimes I even see this criticism from musicians who seem to gravitate to works that have more extroverted dramatic intentions. But to me, Mozart is just as, if not more dramatic that many of the Romantic era composers. It's all just done in a very different way. This concerto might be the perfect example of all of this! It has all the drama you could ever want for you thrill seekers, and it also has all of the masterful subtlety that for me makes Mozart’s music so endlessly touching. This is a concerto of remarkable breadth of emotion, character, and feeling, and it’ll be a joy to take you through it this week. Join us!

Performance is Mitsuko Uchida with Camerata Salzburg. Assorted first movement cadenzas are performed by Michael Rische.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Sticky Notes
0:13.0	classical music podcast.
0:15.0	My name is Joshua Wilerstein.
0:16.0	I'm a conductor and I'm the chief conductor of the Allborg Symphony
0:19.0	and the music director designate of the orchestra
0:21.0	National Delil.
0:22.0	This podcast is for anyone who loves classical designate of the orchestra national deliel.
0:23.0	This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just getting
0:27.2	ready to dive in to this amazing world of incredible music.
0:31.1	Before we get started, I want to thank my new Patreon sponsors Michael, Christine, Stephen,
0:36.1	Vencut, Dan, Steve, Dana, Kathy, Gregory, and all of my other Patreon sponsors for making season 10 possible.
0:44.4	If you'd like to support the show please head over to patreon.com
0:47.6	slash sticky notes podcast.
0:49.4	And if you are a fan of the show please take a moment to give us a rating or
0:52.4	review on Apple Podcasts.
0:54.7	It is greatly appreciated.
0:58.6	So I have just returned from two weeks of concerts, one with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with a program
1:04.8	that I had been excited about for a long time with Pablo Haas's study for strings,
1:09.8	Bernstein's Chester Psalms, Caroline Shaw's Music in Common Time, culminating with Devoir Jacques's New World Symphony.
1:17.4	This was a fantastic week with such a wonderful orchestra.
1:20.6	I also had a week with the Balayare Symphony Orchestra in Myyorca, we did a program of
1:25.0	Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances and Mozart's Lintz Symphony.
	...

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