Re: Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto

["Cline, Eric" <Eric.Cline@REICHHOLD.COM>]

Daniel Baldwin wrote : "Does GG's justification for their inclusion actually
conform to historical performance practice, or is this just another instance
of his eccentricity running amok?"

To answer your question: It does follow historical practice. In Mozart's
Piano Concerto No.26 for example, Mozart didn't write a left hand part for
much (or all ) of the score. He did perform the work and must have adlibbed
the left hand part. IIRC, the modern printed scores have a left hand part
written in by an editor. Malcolm Bilson's recordings of the Mozart Piano
Concerti on a forte-piano with a period instrument orchestra have many such
embellishments in both the right and left hand parts to conform to
historical practice. BTW, I really like the Bilson Mozart recordings. I
recommend them as an alternative to the more modern recordings.




Eric Cline x 8116
Senior R & D Chemist
Emulsion, Urethane & UV Polymer Synthesis
Reichhold, Inc.
North American Coatings Business
e-mail: eric.cline@reichhold.com <mailto:eric.cline@reichhold.com>
http://www.reichhold.com <http://www.reichhold.com>
(Click here to go to the Reichhold home page)


                -----Original Message-----
                From:   Baldwin, Daniel [mailto:baldwin@BAERMARKS.COM]
                Sent:   Tuesday, August 29, 2000 12:57 PM
                To:     F_MINOR@EMAIL.RUTGERS.EDU
                Subject:        GG: Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto

                        Hello  f_minors.

                        I recently acquired GG's recording of Mozart's 24th
piano concerto ,
                with Walter Susskind conducting the CBC orchestra. I think
it's a gripping,
                emotionally charged performance, with GG fully committed and
not taking his
                (usual) ironic, detached stance towards Mozart.  Plus, his
chrystalline
                articulation and bell-like tone serve the music perfectly.
However, there is
                one controversial element of the performance -- GG
interpolates a left-hand
                line at certain points when the score calls only for a
right-hand passage.
                In fact, he accentuates some of these left-hand "inventions"
more than the
                right-hand line. In the liner notes, GG is quoted as saying
that the
                additions are appropriate because (according to GG) Mozart
is known to have
                skimped on some left-handed accompaniment in the score, and
to have filled
                in these "gaps" by improvisation in performance. GG likens
it to a
                continuo-type function. After repeated listenings, I have
gotten used to
                these interpolations and they actually heighten the drama
(particularly when
                GG uses them at points where a solo piano passage is segue -
ing into an
                orchestral passage). But -- whether they sound good or not
-- does GG's
                justification for their inclusion actually conform to
historical performance
                practice, or is this just another instance of his
eccentricity running amok?



                Daniel Baldwin
                BAER MARKS & UPHAM LLP
                805 Third Avenue
                New York, NY 10022
                Tel: (212) 702-5700
                Fax: (212) 702-5941
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