His journey, as a pianist, in Vienna
Just after his 28th birthday, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart decided to start behaving like an organized musician. By that time, he had already composed approximately 450 pieces, an impressive body of work that took a lot of work to keep track of. So in February 1784 he acquired a 44-page notebook in Vienna, put an inscription on the cover: "Catalogue of All My Works", and began to record the new compositions one by one. On the left page, he noted the title or some description of the piece, the completion date, and the orchestration. On the right page, he scribbled the first bars, as if they were "cue cards".
Mozart, pianist and composer
When Mozart settled in Vienna in 1781, he did so with the idea of working there as a pianist and composer. The most obvious way of performing both trades lay in the composition of piano concertos, a craft, needless to say, that Wolfgang Amadeus had mastered to perfection. He had already shown proof of this in the six concertos he had composed so far, in addition to the two composed for two and three pianos, not to mention those arrangements for piano and orchestra of movements by other composers. But when he settled in Vienna, and became engaged to be married shortly thereafter, the number of concertos written must have risen steadily. There was a family to support.
Twelve concertos in four years
Thus, in the 1782-83 season he composed three concertos. In 1784 he composed six, the highest point in his Viennese period. From there he drew strength to write another three in the 1785-86 season. But there the good streak ended, and in 1787 he composed none. He wrote one in 1788; none in 1789-90; and a last one in the year of his death. These simple statistics do not tell the whole story of the "pianist Mozart" for he performed many times as a pianist in premieres that did not feature premiere concerts; however, the small account tells us of his career as a pianist during the Viennese years.
Concerto No. 23 in A Major
Thanks to the remarkable Catalog idea, we know that Concerto No. 23 (K. 488) was completed on March 2, 1786. And we also know that the work was begun in 1784, when Mozart was at his best as a pianist in the Habsburg capital. At some point Mozart must have put the work aside (perhaps occupied by the composition of Le Nozze di Figaro), and only finished it in the late winter of 1786, when it was added to the catalog with the date already noted. Most probably, it was first performed a few days later in Vienna, with Mozart at the piano, of course.
Movements:
It is in three movements. The cadenza of the first of them belongs to Mozart. He left it written, something unusual for him.
00:00 Allegro / Joyful and lively, with a touch of melancholy.
11:17 Adagio / Passionately beautiful. His delightful theme was "borrowed" for an Air France advertisement some years ago.
18:31 Allegro assai / An exuberant rondo.
The rendition is by Maurizio Pollini, accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karl Bohm.
