Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It is one of Mozart's most frequently performed concertos: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488. This performance features the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under the baton of Cornelius Meister, with Illia Ovcharenko as soloist. The concert took place on July 11, 2025 as part of the Kissinger Sommer music festival in Bad Kissingen, Germany.
(00:00) I. Allegro
(11:46) II. Adagio
(18:29) III. Allegro assai
On March 2, 1786, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) entered a concerto in A major into the “Catalogue of all my works”. This is all that is known about the genesis of the Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major (K. 488). Initial work on the first movement of the concerto probably took place as early as 1784/85. The place and date of the first performance are also not known, but it can be assumed that Mozart himself played the solo part. As a piano virtuoso, the classical composer naturally wrote his great piano works first and foremost for himself.
This piano concerto, however, is not merely about showcasing the pianist's virtuosity. Rather, there is a balanced and equal exchange between orchestra and soloist. In Baroque music in particular, a concerto did primarily serve to showcase the virtuosity of the instrumental soloist. The role of the orchestra was generally subordinate. But this model gradually gave way to more of a “partnership” approach to music-making. Mozart's Piano Concerto K. 488 represents a high point in this development.
The first movement of the Concerto in A major begins quite “classically” with two themes, one cheerful and the other lyrical, which are introduced by the orchestra and repeated and varied by the piano. Later a third theme comes into play, which defines the further course of the development. Mozart composed the solo cadenza that comes shortly before the end of the first movement very precisely.
The second movement is a melancholy adagio in the style of a siciliano, a shepherd's dance already common in Baroque music. Due to the rare key of F-sharp minor, the slow movement has a distinctive sound and seems like a lament. In the cheerful middle section, the flute and clarinets introduce the theme. Shortly afterwards, the plaintive mood of the beginning unfolds again. The final movement begins abruptly. In form, it is a rondo. Its optimistic cheerfulness is in stark contrast to the middle movement. The cheerfulness intensifies at the end and is reminiscent of opera buffa (comic opera). Perhaps Mozart was thinking of his opera The Marriage of Figaro which he was working on at the same time.
© 2025 Kissinger Sommer
Watch more concerts here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBV5A14dyRWy1KSkwcG8LEey
More famous piano concertos: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBU7k2TJgrgNCc9aygnNkaGZ
More music by Mozart: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBVMUV5tqlgIMa-NdrBs5qum
And more pieces from the Classical period: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBX17Jic5IUJQle18jrnZAof
Subscribe to DW Classical Music: youtube.com/dwclassicalmusic
#mozart #pianoconcerto #classicalperiod
It is one of Mozart's most frequently performed concertos: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488. This performance features the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under the baton of Cornelius Meister, with Illia Ovcharenko as soloist. The concert took place on July 11, 2025 as part of the Kissinger Sommer music festival in Bad Kissingen, Germany.
(00:00) I. Allegro
(11:46) II. Adagio
(18:29) III. Allegro assai
On March 2, 1786, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) entered a concerto in A major into the “Catalogue of all my works”. This is all that is known about the genesis of the Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major (K. 488). Initial work on the first movement of the concerto probably took place as early as 1784/85. The place and date of the first performance are also not known, but it can be assumed that Mozart himself played the solo part. As a piano virtuoso, the classical composer naturally wrote his great piano works first and foremost for himself.
This piano concerto, however, is not merely about showcasing the pianist's virtuosity. Rather, there is a balanced and equal exchange between orchestra and soloist. In Baroque music in particular, a concerto did primarily serve to showcase the virtuosity of the instrumental soloist. The role of the orchestra was generally subordinate. But this model gradually gave way to more of a “partnership” approach to music-making. Mozart's Piano Concerto K. 488 represents a high point in this development.
The first movement of the Concerto in A major begins quite “classically” with two themes, one cheerful and the other lyrical, which are introduced by the orchestra and repeated and varied by the piano. Later a third theme comes into play, which defines the further course of the development. Mozart composed the solo cadenza that comes shortly before the end of the first movement very precisely.
The second movement is a melancholy adagio in the style of a siciliano, a shepherd's dance already common in Baroque music. Due to the rare key of F-sharp minor, the slow movement has a distinctive sound and seems like a lament. In the cheerful middle section, the flute and clarinets introduce the theme. Shortly afterwards, the plaintive mood of the beginning unfolds again. The final movement begins abruptly. In form, it is a rondo. Its optimistic cheerfulness is in stark contrast to the middle movement. The cheerfulness intensifies at the end and is reminiscent of opera buffa (comic opera). Perhaps Mozart was thinking of his opera The Marriage of Figaro which he was working on at the same time.
© 2025 Kissinger Sommer
Watch more concerts here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBV5A14dyRWy1KSkwcG8LEey
More famous piano concertos: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBU7k2TJgrgNCc9aygnNkaGZ
More music by Mozart: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBVMUV5tqlgIMa-NdrBs5qum
And more pieces from the Classical period: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBX17Jic5IUJQle18jrnZAof
Subscribe to DW Classical Music: youtube.com/dwclassicalmusic
#mozart #pianoconcerto #classicalperiod
