When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart settled in Vienna in 1781, he had already written six piano concertos, plus a bunch of arrangements for piano and orchestra derived from movements by other composers. So, his goal of making a name for himself there as a pianist and composer offered no major difficulties. But the following year, he will marry Constance, and start a family.
This new twenty-five-year-old Mozart provider would have to support a wife and children. So at the same time as he saw his recognition as a performer grow, the production of concerts, sold by subscription, had to increase substantially.
During the 1782-83 season he composed three concertos for piano and orchestra. The following year, 1784, public demand led him to write no less than six, the highest point in his output for the format. In 1785 and 1786 he was still able to write three each year. But thereafter, Mozart ceased to be the artist of the year. In 1787 he wrote none, and only one in 1788. And there he stopped, until a final achievement in early 1791, the year of his death. This simple statistic may seem trivial but we think it somewhat sums up Mozart's career in Vienna as a pianist.
Concerto No. 22 in E flat major, KV 482
Mozart's personal catalog (his unique "Catalogue of all my works") lists December 16, 1785 as the completion date of the work, written simultaneously with The Marriage of Figaro (which will have its premiere in May of the following year). It is the last of the three concertos written that year. It is preceded by Concerto No. 20 in D minor and Concerto No. 21 in C major, two of his most brilliant works in the genre, requested and performed with such frequency that No. 22 has been, in fact, unjustly overshadowed. Perhaps without realizing it, Mozart himself set the bar very high for himself, although in the opinion of one scholar "of all his concertos, this is the greatest".
Movements:
00:00 Allegro
13:03 Andante
21:49 Allegro
While it is difficult to express a preference for one movement or another, the Andante seems to have struck a chord with the audience on its first hearing, as it is said to have been encored. This first performance is reported on December 23, 1785. Curiously for our days, it was played during the intermissions of an oratorio by Carl von Dittersdorf, the Austrian composer.
The rendition is by the Austrian maestro Rudolf Buchbinder, performing as pianist and conductor, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
