# Mozart Piano Concerto 19



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

What does everyone think of this piece as I've not heard much support for it.


----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

The F major? It's really nice - upbeat and charming outer movements with (another) lovely andante. It's a bit lighter than the later ones but still fantastic. I've played it, heard it and seen it recorded plenty. Wasn't aware it had an image problem


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Tremendous. One of my favourtites. There are some wonderful performances -- Schnabel, Pollini, Horszowski, Henkemans, Kocsis.


----------



## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

It is a beauty. Maybe his bigger problem is his proximity to the 20th, IMO the very best of all Mozart´s lovely piano concertos.


----------



## kostas papazafeiropoulos (Oct 6, 2013)

It is a very idiosyncratic concerto and i think the triplets in the first movement means a little faster tempo. I like the Rondo very much. This concerto was orchestrated also for 2 trombe and Timpani (now lost), i would love to be able to listen to it like that.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Burroughs said:


> What does everyone think of this piece as I've not heard much support for it.


I like the 19th a lot. has a lot of counterpoint. Difficult to play. My favorite is the Peter Serkin performance.


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

You are probably not going to find many detractors of any of the Mozart Concerti from No. 14 K. 449 or at the latest No 16 K.451 and then including the rest on through to the last No. 27 K. 595. They are all _that good._

Some would set the beginning line of the more mature concerti with No. 16 K.451 because in this concerto there is more use of and integral writing for the winds than in any of the prior concerti (there is also a metric shift in the last movement which also more than a bit unusual for the time.)

But _look at this_, and how much time there was between No. 14 and 16: 
Mozart was writing concerti for himself to perform at subscription series concerts in Vienna._ In 1784, within the year, he composed and then performed (N.B. the Kv numbers) 14 k.449 / 15 k.450 / 16 k.451 / 17 K. 453._ ... a busy 27 year old man, that.

ADD: filling in the one gap in the above Kv. number sequence:
Kv. 452, of equal scale and length of the concerti, is that little ditty, the masterly Quintet for piano and winds


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

PetrB said:


> [...]
> But _look at this_, and how much time there was between No. 14 and 16:
> Mozart was writing concerti for himself to perform at subscription series concerts in Vienna._In 1784, within the year, he composed and then performed (N.B. the Kv numbers) 14 k.449 / 15 k.451 / 16 k.451 / 17 K. 453._ ... a busy 27 year old man, that.


They were even presented that way in recordings - The 1784 Concertos - by Peter Serkin, Alexander Schneider and the English Chamber Orchestra. K.449 to K.459.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

19, terrific piece. Nos. 17 - 27 are the bombs, so 19 most definitely has a place of honor.

Anda's (DG) playing/conducting is the peak for a recording. A blistering pace, and not passing up WAM's opportunity for a li'l boogie-woogie.

I like Pires (Erato), too, for a ballsy performance. Though Jordan tries to take it sleepy at times, Maria Joao overrules. :tiphat:


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I agree with much of the above
The mature piano concertos are a wonderful body of work and 19 is right up there amongst them.
I was not aware of how quickly Mozart was writing them, which only makes me more in awe of his talent
Perahia is the man for me in these works


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Ukko said:


> They were even presented that way in recordings - The 1784 Concertos - by Peter Serkin, Alexander Schneider and the English Chamber Orchestra. K.449 to K.459.


Just illustrates the fact, outside of all romanticized thoughts on the man and his life, he regularly produced like mad and worked more than hard for the entire length of his brief career... it looks like there was little or not much time for _anything_ else!


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Vaneyes said:


> 19, terrific piece. Nos. 17 - 27 are the bombs, so 19 most definitely has a place of honor.
> 
> Anda's (DG) playing/conducting is the peak for a recording. A blistering pace, and not passing up WAM's opportunity for a li'l boogie-woogie. :tiphat:


A younger generation is very much missing out if they overlook Geza Anda, imo.


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Many a musician and musiclologists rate these late concerti as equals of the symphonies which he wrote from this time on, too. 

My comp teacher, quite matter of fact, thought they were of equal worth, i.e. the later concerti were just concertante symphonies


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

PetrB said:


> A younger generation is very much missing out if they overlook Geza Anda, imo.


Although I like Anda in other music, never thought his Mozart matched Perahia or Brendel.


----------



## Alydon (May 16, 2012)

Burroughs said:


> What does everyone think of this piece as I've not heard much support for it.


This is one of Mozart's brightest & optimistic concertos and one of those pieces which leaves you better for listening to it. Like concertos 16, 22, 25 & 26 it seems at times to have dipped under its more often played companions, but looking at the recordings available there's no shortage of choice. As a personal favourite and a recording bringing new vigour and freshness to this piece I enjoy Andreas Staier & Concerto Koln - the sound of the fortepiano certainly puts things in a different light!


----------



## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I hadn't given this concerto a good listen before reading this thread so I just got back from a good listen to it. Some superficial observations:

I think the first thing that struck me was the fantastic woodwind writing. Mozart (and Haydn too) were so ahead of many of their contemporaries in the area of woodwind writing (most of them still treating the section as entirely secondary). I especially love the amount of interaction going on between the string and the woodwind section. For someone who allegedly hated the sound of the flute, he sure as hell knew how to write for it (the orchestration of the beginning, with the one flute in unison with the first violins, sounds wonderfully feathery). 

The next thing that struck me was the amount of counterpoint. I especially like how the fugal section that starts the development section in the first movement interrupts the final piano cadence at the end of the second exposition. That was great. 

Of course, it was sort of an unwritten rule that the last movement of a Classical era anything needs some humor! So I was delighted at the joke in the finale of this concerto (the joke being that the only I chord in the whole opening melody is an upbeat, and by the end of the melody it cadences in on V. This doesn't even get corrected in the subsequent repeat of the melody in the woodwinds).

Yes, as I expected, I quite enjoyed this piece


----------

