Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was 19 years old when he composed the five violin concertos. By the time, he was the first violin at the orchestra of his clumsy patron boss Colloredo, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. By the hand of his father, Wolfgang had long toured halfway around Europe playing the keyboard with Nannerl, his older sister. As a keyboard player, he had amazed half the world, but his abilities as a violinist were only known to those who had had the good fortune of listening to him in Salzburg or in some modest court in the surroundings.
His father Leopold, who knew more than a little about violins – he had written one of the first pedagogical treatises in the history of the instrument – once wrote to him: "... it happens that you are not aware of how well you play the violin". Much later, interestingly enough, he insisted: "If you had wanted, you could have been the best violinist in Europe." Leopold had not yet realized that Wolfgang was going to be the greatest composer of the classical period.
Colloredo
A year before he began the composition of the five concerts, Wolfgang had received a refusal from Colloredo to his request to go to Vienna. Mozart expected to make himself better known and fruitfully interact with other musicians in that city. In addition, he desired to escape, even if for a little while, from the unhappiness of serving His Eminence in a court he detested.
So it’s perfectly possible to imagine that the violin concertos were composed thinking of a forthcoming and definitive departure from the court of Salzburg. Their construction would work as a sort of consolidation of a repertoire to be presented before the most striking courts of Germany or France, where Wolfgang could also shine as a violinist, following the instructions of his father.
The Italian school
Nevertheless, Mozart composed the five violin concertos in record time, between April and December 1775. When comparing them to the piano concertos, it is customary to say that the violin concertos are more superficial. However, all of them reflects the unparalleled knowledge that Wolfgang had of the Italian school, with its melodic and graceful style. Certainly, they are a precious testimony of the refinement and gallant style that must have prevailed in the court of Salzburg more than two centuries ago.
Concerto for violin and orchestra N° 3
Structured in the three traditional movements, fast, slow, fast, the concerto N° 3, in G major, is one of the most demanded by public and performers of our time.
The American violinist Hilary Hahn is the soloist, accompanied by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. The performance took place in 2007 for the birthday of Pope Benedict XVI, in a modest Vatican’s room laboriously reconditioned for the occasion.
Movements:
00:00 Allegro - A prototype of a gallant ending, although it will be surpassed by the gallantry of the end of the third movement. (Cadenzas are from Hilary).
10:35 Adagio - Instead of the usual andante, Mozart incorporates an adagio that floats in a dreamy atmosphere.
21:00 Rondo - As usual, half jokingly and half seriously, Mozart said of this movement that "it could only have been written by a man of superior talent". No brilliant endings at all. At the end, the work seems to say goodbye, with supreme elegance, because it needs to take a break.
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