The year 1784 was an amazing one for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as far as the composition of keyboard concertos is concerned. In a notebook that he began keeping that year and would maintain for the rest of his life, the first composition he entered was the fourteenth piano concerto, completed February 9. By the time the year was out, he would create five more such works.
At this time, Mozart was at the height of his power as a keyboard virtuoso, and appeared almost nightly in performance, either at one of his own subscription concerts or in the drawing rooms and salons of the aristocracy. His father Leopold was in Vienna in early 1785 and was witness to one particular success, when the Emperor Joseph II himself waved his hat and shouted, “Bravo, Mozart!” at the conclusion of the playing of the eighteenth concerto.
Here are conductor Simon Rattle and pianist Mitsuko Uchida to perform this music for you:
