Mozart: Piano Concerto 16 & 17

With Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 16 in D Major, one notices the further development of the composer's wind writing.

Somewhere around his Piano Concerto no. 9, I mentioned how Mozart avoided simply using the winds for mere doubling and color. Here, the winds are their own music makers, neither reliant upon strings for support, nor edged out of the musical conversation.

Where the earliest concertos provided the bare minimum of oboes and horns, now the orchestra is expanded to flutes and bassoons, and depending on the key of the concerto, trumpet and timpani. The bassoon is given notable spotlights in these two concertos, even if only here and there.

Otherwise, no. 16 is a light, smiling concerto which rarely if ever steps into the minor mode. The downside is K. 451 can be made cutesy and precious, especially considering its short runtime, so character is relished on record. Zacharias and Marriner do well enough, if not to the heights of Daniel Barenboim with the Berlin Philharmonic (not the ECO).

For years, I have taught classes out of the Enjoyment of Music series, through many of their upgraded editions (now on the 14th Edition). To introduce students to the piano concerto, as well as ingrain the idea of sonata-allegro form, that text liked to use the first movement from Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 17 in G Major as their focus. The recording they used was from Hungarian pianist Dezső Ránki with Jeffrey Tate leading the ECO (provided at the bottom of this page). I have heard this performance countless times, year in and year out, enough so that I know each facet of their collaboration.

Knowing that background, I find the sound from Zacharias and Marriner a little smooth in comparison, without perhaps the last bit of sparkle. Even better, Geza Anda is fabulous in this particular concerto.

As to K. 453 itself, the abundance of melodies, cascading sequences, and odd key shifts are enchanting throughout its first movement. Continued from K. 451, are the notable wind showcases mentioned earlier.

The middle movement is a beauty, not afraid to pine for both light and darkness. I could certainly see many pianists wanting to indulge more than Zacharias and crew do here.

The finale of no. 17 is the one where I learned about Mozart's love of birds, and in particular, his ability to train his starling the tune to this portion of the concerto. It is a fun story if you get a chance to look it up. Either way, Mozart provides a sizeable theme and variations here, allowing the orchestra and piano some fun musical arguments and color shifts. The minor-keyed parts are worthy of digging into.

Again, these middle concertos from Zacharias and Marriner are very good, if not reaching the ultimate heights. They are not merely play-throughs, Zacharias is too deeply thoughtful of a pianist for such talk, and that is what we get in this music.

Listen on YouTube

Works
Piano Concerto 16 in D Major, K. 451 (21.22)
Piano Concerto 17 in G Major, K. 453 (29.17)

Soloists
Christian Zacharias, piano

Performers
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sir Neville Marriner, conductor

Label: EMI
Year: 1988-90

Find more Mozart recordings HERE!

Dezső Ránki with Jeffrey Tate and the ECO: