Mozart: Concerto for Two Pianos KV 365, Sinfonia concertante for Four Winds KV 279B, Adagio KV 261,

In addition to his numerous concertos for solo piano and orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart also wrote a concerto for two pianos and another for three pianos, both with orchestral accompaniment. The double concerto in E flat major KV 365 was probably composed at the beginning of 1779, immediately after Mozart’s return to Salzburg from Paris. Mozart composed this concerto, like the majority of his other concertos, for his own use; the other solo part, presumably the first, was initially intended for his sister Maria Anna, known as Nannerl. Mozart’s pupil Josephine von Auernhammer was his solo partner for two later performances in Vienna in 1781 and 1782; Mozart wrote to his father in Salzburg that she “tormented him terribly because of the double concerto”. Mozart added two clarinets, two trumpets and timpani to the original orchestration of strings, two oboes, two bassoons and two horns for the first Viennese performance; this recording, however, makes use of Mozart’s original orchestral accompaniment. The two soloists on Mozart: Concerto for Two Pianos, the Piano Duo Sakamoto, speak of the great fascination that this work exerts: “It was a great pleasure for us to perform this unique concerto, so full of playfulness and musical moments of happiness, on two splendid Bösendorfer grand pianos in Vienna. We enjoyed the work’s musical dialogues very much — and not just the dialogue between the two pianos, but also the dialogue with the orchestra.” The violin, which Mozart played masterfully and through which he served as the prince-archbishop’s concertmaster in Salzburg, was no less important than the piano in his life as a performing musician. It is therefore no coincidence that all five of Mozart’s violin concertos were composed during his time in Salzburg: the first in 1773 and the other four just two years later. Mozart composed two individual movements for violin and orchestra soon afterwards: an Adagio in E major, KV 261, and a Rondo in B flat major, KV 269. We may assume, although not with total security, that Mozart wrote them as alternative movements for his violin concertos in the same keys — KV 219 and KV 207 respectively.

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