MOZART: Piano Concertos - Orli Shaham, David Robertson, St. Louis Symphony

Orli Shaham revels in the theatrical richness and breath taking invention of Mozart's Piano Concertos joining forces with David Robertson and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for this studio recording of No.17 in G Major, K.453 and No. 24 in C minor, K.491.

The underlying inspiration for Orli Shaham's recording of Mozart concertos is her passion to record music that has spoken to her, and driven her, again and again throughout her career. She has chosen to recorded these 2 concertos as standout as emblems of the extraordinary theatricality of Mozart's mature concertos, also highlighting the spirit of dialogue between soloist and orchestra. Each concerto concludes with a final movement cast in variation form, the only 2 examples in Mozart's piano concertos.

"The hope is to be able to highlight some aspect of the work that hasn't been illuminated in that way before," the pianist comments. "The works are so rich and there are so many things you could bring out, there's no way you could bring them all out in a single performance." The original score of K.491 requires the soloist to decipher the composer's intentions and make choices about which notes or even passages to play. "The manuscript shows several iterations that he tried," explains Orli Shaham. "Sometimes it's a leading tone this way, and sometimes it's a leading tone going the other way. Sometimes he crosses it out. It's the only concerto I know where you sometimes will get four lines of what the piano is supposed to be playing."

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major K.453 I. Allegro
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major K.453 II. Andante
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major K.453 III. Allegretto

MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K.491 I. Allegro
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K.491 II. Larghetto
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor K.491 III. Allegretto