Mozart / Breiner: Allegro and cadenza Piano Concerto No. 20

Until well into the nineteenth century, the cadenzas for a solo instrument in a concerto, that is, those virtuosic passages in which the orchestra is silent to allow the performer to show off his skills and inventiveness, were left to the soloist. The author of the piece did not write the cadenza but only indicated the moment when it should begin, usually at the end of the first movement.

Famous composers created famous cadenzas for equally famous concerts. Epic is the cadenza that Beethoven wrote for Mozart's Concerto No. 20, widely used by today's performers, because nowadays performers no longer improvise, they rely on cadenzas written by others.

But there are exceptions, notable ones...

In a span of thirteen years, from the time he was eleven until a few months before his death, Mozart composed 27 concertos for piano and orchestra. Fifteen of them include cadenzas written by the composer. A high number, if we remember that for their premiere the concertos generally featured his participation as a soloist. There was no need to write it, we might say, given the composer's ability for improvisation.

Concerto No. 20, for example, premiered in Vienna on February 22, 1785, with the composer at the piano, has no cadenza written by Mozart. Either he never had it, or it has been lost. The first to be published was Beethoven's already mentioned. The Bonn master thus inaugurated a long list of pianist-composers who added their own cadenza to the brilliant work. Hummel, Brahms, and Ferrucio Brusoni, are among the most conspicuous. Among the most curious, is that of Chik Korea (which includes a vocalist).

Peter Breiner

Breiner's invention
Not less novel is the cadenza incorporated by Peter Breiner in a 1990 recording. Renowned for his arrangements of music by The Beatles and Elvis Presley in baroque style, Peter Breiner is a Slovak pianist and a driving force in the popularization of classical music.

He is accompanied by the Philharmonia Cassovia ensemble, which he also conducts. The cadenza, "in "arrabalero", or "jazzy" mode, at minute 9:57. After an irreverent two minutes, we are back in the classical era.