Piano Concerto No. 24 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Concert Library

Piano Concerto No. 24

Library of Congress

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed Concerto No. 24 during his fourth season in Vienna at a time when he was gaining rapid renown as a pianist and composer of concertos. Concerto No. 24 was premiered in April 1786 at the Viennese Burgtheater, with Mozart himself playing the solo part and conducting the orchestra from the keyboard. Ludwig van Beethoven was tremendously impressed by the work, and Johannes Brahms later wrote that this concerto was a “masterpiece of art and full of inspired ideas.”

The extensive first movement of Concerto No. 24 repeatedly defies the listener’s expectations by challenging conventions of structure and harmony. Most concertos from this time period open with a straightforward melodic theme that clearly defines the key of the piece within the first few measures. The first theme of Concerto No. 24, however, boldly contains all twelve chromatic pitches, and the home key of C minor remains ambiguous until measure thirteen. Likewise, in many of Mozart’s other concertos, the first solo entrance begins with the same music played by the orchestra at the opening of the movement. In Concerto No. 24, the pianist instead enters with a lengthy passage of new musical material.

The development section of the first movement features a particularly turbulent, passionate, and operatic dialogue between the pianist and the orchestra before leading into a more conventional recapitulation of the opening themes. Boundaries are broken once more in the coda at the very end of the movement, as the pianist unexpectedly interrupts the orchestra for a final virtuosic solo moment.

One of the defining sonic features of Concerto No. 24 is Mozart’s imaginative and unusual use of both oboes and clarinets. Throughout the piece, the winds have important moments where they take precedence over the strings. This is especially noteworthy in the tender Larghetto. With its elegant phrases, simplistic themes, and predictable ABACA rondo structure, this movement provides an exceptional contrast to the tumultuous first movement.

Concerto No. 24 concludes with a theme and variations, which begins with a straightforward orchestral statement of the theme. Each of the eight variations inventively incorporates rhythmic, harmonic, textural, and/or melodic contrast, with the final variation and coda bringing the whole concerto to a triumphant close.

Operatic drama permeates Piano Concerto No. 24, which was written shortly before Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro premiered. In fact, Mozart would shortly thereafter become known more as an opera composer than as an instrumental composer and performer.

September 30–October 2, 2022

Conrad Tao and the SPCO perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24

Watch Performance
32:25

Director: Phillip Byrd
Associate Director and Editor: Janet Shapiro
Cameras: Kailyn Grider
Video Technical Director: JoAnn Babic
Score Reader: Jeffrey Stirling
Audio: Cameron Wiley, YourClassical MPR
Executive Producer of Digital Media: Matt Thueson
Assistant Producer for Digital Projects: Erica Beebe
Assistant Producer for Digital Audiences: Kierra Lopac

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