Mozart’s A-major Piano Concerto replaces the bright-toned oboes usually found in Mozart’s concertos with clarinets, for darker coloration, particularly in the passionate, richly chromatic slow movement in the rare key of F-sharp minor.
But unlike K. 482 and K. 491, which likewise employ clarinets, there are no trumpets and timpani here. The atmosphere remains intimate, with interchanges between the woodwinds – flute, clarinets, bassoons – heightening the chamber-music feeling of the first two movements; and while the rondo-finale may be a send-’em-home-smiling affair, it hardly lacks those passing touches of pathos without which Mozart simply wouldn’t be Mozart.
The concerto K. 488 has all the characteristics of the work of a wise old master, giving the impression of having seen and heard everything and having no regrets. And in a sense Mozart was old, at the age of 30. He died at age 35 in 1791.
Here is Mr. Buchbinder to play this magical concerto for you:
