Mozart Piano Concerto K.453
The project explored interpretive practices in W.A. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.17 in G major, K.453 with a focus on the interaction of the woodwind lines with the solo piano material. The research was undertaken through multiple concert presentations of the work in different performance contexts including with the Adelaide and Sydney Symphony Orchestras and with Ensemble Q in arrangement for Piano and String Quintet, alongside contextual practical study of the adjacent Quintet for Piano and Winds, K.452.
Image credit: Darren James
History
ERA Category
- Performance of Creative Work - Music
Eligible major research output?
- Yes
Research Statement
The project explored interpretive practices in W.A. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.17 in G major, K.453 through multiple concert presentations of the work in different performance contexts, with a focus on the interaction of the woodwind lines with the solo piano material. In the preceding three concertos (K.449-451) written by Mozart in February/March 1784, the role of wind instruments begins to take on an increasingly prominent role relative to his earlier works in the genre, where the composer had regarded inclusion of wind instruments as optional in performance. The Quintet for Piano and Winds K.452, completed in the short interval between the concertos K.451 and K.453 and written in the three movements of a concerto, demonstrates Mozart’s preoccupation during this period with developing his methods in writing for winds and piano, without the distraction of the strings, trumpets and drums that feature in the K.451 concerto. The subsequent Piano Concerto in G K.453, completed on 12th April 1784, displays further unprecedented integration of piano and winds directly resulting from Mozart’s explorations in his Quintet K.452. The research involved multiple performances of the work with Australian symphony orchestras (Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on April 9 & 10, 2021, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra on October 19 & 20, 2023). In the interim, contextual study and performance of the Quintet for Piano and Winds K.452 was undertaken with Ensemble Q (performance in the QCGU Theatre on 4 May, 2021 - link to YouTube performance in Related Materials), as well as a performance of the Concerto K.453 in arrangement for String Quintet and Piano by Ignaz Lachner, thus removing from the sonic equation first the strings and then the winds. The former provided focussed immersion and insight into Mozart's approaches to cultivating musical rhetoric between winds and piano, whilst the latter served to highlight the absence of the rich and vital melodic dialogue between different timbres of wind instruments, as well as between individual and collective winds and the solo piano material. The resulting joy in dialogic clarity upon returning to the original instrumentation was tangible in performance, as remarked upon in the various published reviews of the performances: “Such passionate, clear and streamlined opportunities for a concerto player to converse were all seized by this thoughtful soloist. De Borah’s conversation both across the piano range and with winds and strings was both infectiously beautiful as well as a clear illustration of how Mozart helped shaped keyboard concerto writing well into the Romantic period (…) De Borah’s manipulation of line and textures included candid exchanges with the orchestra on the modern piano. The integrity of his joy in exquisitely beautiful searching piano song redefined delicacy for us. It presented the eighteenth-century keyboard part with exemplary, diminutive clarity.” - Paul Nolan, Sydney Arts Guide, 21 Oct 2023 "De Borah’s light and lithe playing style and pearly tone is ideal for Mozart and it was a reading that this listener believed even the most illustrious performer would find hard to cap (…) There was some lovely sensitive interplay between piano and orchestra” - Steve Moffatt, Limelight Magazine, 20 Oct 2023 Dissemination was extensive across the five performances, reaching a live audience of over 6500 in three states at Adelaide Festival Hall, QPAC Concert Hall, City Recital Hall in Sydney and Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre Penrith. The Adelaide and Brisbane performances have been broadcast multiple times on ABC Classic radio and worldwide via digital streaming on ABC Classic and World Concert Hall. The various performances were reviewed in Limelight Magazine, Sydney Arts Guide and Adelaide Advertiser.Copyright notes
© This work is covered by copyright. You must assume that re-use is limited to personal use and that permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for all other uses.Estimated size of audience
6500 (live audience estimate across 5 concert performances)Authors of work performed
W.A. MozartWas the work disseminated?
- Yes
Form of dissemination
- Public performance
Scope of dissemination
- International
Did the work go on tour?
- Yes