Above any other piece, this Mozart concerto is why I chose to write about music. My grandmother Dorothy Walton (pictured above) who I adored so much and miss beyond belief played this Mozart concerto to us. Dot as she was affectionately known always read from the library. My Nan borrowed books weekly and just read and read until she had to borrow her next set. If my Nan didn’t do that she played her piano.
As I write about this now my eyes well up with tears. My Nan and I were at one as though there was nothing she could do which was wrong nor I in her mind. When you have that unrequited love for another…
‘The little things… There’s nothing bigger, is there?’ – Vanilla Sky
This concerto also concludes my No1 favourite movie – Amadeus as seen in the video at the end of this post. By the way, I recommend admirers of the movie to see the making of Amadeus documentary here.
It’s staggering what Mozart wrote around this time period, like the Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Abduction from the Seraglio amongst many other great works written about here. The first performance of today’s piano concerto was performed by Mozart as soloist. Can you imagine being at Mehlgrube Casino in Vienna on 11 February 1785?
Mozart’s father, Leopold was impressed and wrote to his daughter that Mozart had written an excellent piano concerto. Even the young Ludwig van Beethoven admired this concerto and kept it in his repertoire. The piano which Mozart owned is on display at Mozart House in Salzburg, but it once had a pedal board like that of an organ. According to Leopold, his son Mozart played this concerto with the pedal board which he says was used to to reinforce the left-handed part or add lower notes than the standard keyboard. Read the wikipedia article for more information.
