Mozart, Piano Concerto No 17

Having settled in Vienna in 1781 and married the following year, Mozart had to support the family economy with his talent as a performer and composer. During those years he would compose one piano concerto after the other, the premiere of which was scheduled for a couple of weeks later. As soon as the composition was finished, an orchestra had to be hired, a theater had to be rented (or some similar venue) and the concert had to be sold by subscription. Once all this was organized to perfection, Wolfgang would sit at the piano and conduct on the day of the premiere. That was the rule in general, but there were exceptions.

Concertos on request

Concerto No. 17 in G major was requested by a pupil. Her parents hired the orchestra and the premiere took place at home, in an elegant suburb of Vienna, with the pupil at the piano and Mozart conducting, suitably rewarded. It was not the first time. Two months earlier, Concerto No. 14 had inaugurated this new form of "marketing" to the same interested parties.

On the occasion of the premiere of the Concerto in G major, Giovanni Paisiello was present, invited by Mozart to listen to his pupil and appreciate his progress. The evening ended with the master and pupil playing together four hands.

Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 17 in G major, K. 453

Thanks to the catalog of his works that Mozart began to keep in February 1784, we know for sure that the work was finished on April 12 of that year. In those days (exactly on May 27) Wolfgang bought a pet, with wings, a little bird, a starling.

The starling is said to be a songbird with a great ability to imitate, and it is reported that Mozart decided to buy it after finding that the little bird was able to sing the theme of the third movement. The starling did it wonderfully, except that he always sang a natural G as a G-sharp.

The critics of the time

The concerto is one of the few published during Mozart's lifetime. The critics praised the elegance of the Andante, and the beautiful modulations of the Allegretto, but warned about some somewhat dense passages that would make it difficult to be heard by the common public. These were, perhaps, the beginnings of the period of decline of the Viennese audience's taste for the maestro's piano concertos.

Movements

They are the traditional three ones, in the usual sequence, fast-slow-fast:

00:00   Allegro - Mozart's characteristic opening movement: the orchestra presents the thematic material that will later be taken up by the piano, bringing in new ideas and variations.

13:33   Andante  - Ten minutes of Mozartian elegance.

24:50   Allegretto / Finale: Presto - Theme and variations on the starling's song.

The rendition is by the brilliant Hungarian pianist Dezső Ránki, accompanied by the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by maestro Jeffrey Tate.