My favorite Mozart

Today marked the 260th anniversary of the birth of Mozart (as well as something like the fifth incarnation of my "Mozart Day Letter"). Much of the life of this eternal man-child, prodigious from almost the very beginning, remains shrouded in mystery. The myths are never-ending. I still read of the "rivalry" between Mozart and Salieri, the germ of which took root in the play by Pushkin as well as Peter Shaffer's modern-day adaptation, Amadeus. Most people's knowledge of Mozart the man is based upon that film. As beautiful (and well-acted and directed--of course, it's Milos Forman) as it is, the history is bunk. The truth is, that despite all the theories--chronic illness, bad pork, some kind of plague--we'll never know what or who killed Mozart.

And that doesn't matter, because we're left with the music. His works remain among the most widely played in concert around the globe (it's usually Beethoven and then Mozart with an occasional outlier in an anniversary year. In fact, in 2015 Mozart overtook Beethoven as the most performed, according to Bachtrack.

Mozart the composer was not truly groundbreaking, inventing (or at least perfecting) genres like Haydn with the string quartet and the symphony. But his strides in his bread and butter work--opera (that's where composers could strike it relatively rich if they had no patron)--he remains (in my opinion) unequaled. And opera houses seemed to agree in 2015 as well; three of his greatest hits: Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Magic Flute all hit the opera top ten.

The heck with statistics. I want to talk about my favorite Mozart and get away, at least for a day, from the dull roar of collective bargaining agreements. Of course, with Mozart having written in every genre, I'd have to insist that it's impossible to name one favorite piece; of course it's my blog and I can pick and choose as I wish.

The piano concertos remain the genre in which Mozart made the most contributions. Of course, he did write the first of them at the age of 11! By the end of his career (the final concerto was completed in 1791) he had fully integrated the classical form as well as undertaken great strides in his orchestration. No longer were the winds and brass simple filler at cadence points, but a true part of the compositional fabric. My favorite? This one is actually quite easy: No. 20 in D-minor, K. 466. I seem to be drawn to Mozart's minor key works, probably because I feel he is at his the peak of his harmonic inventiveness in them.

Other concertos. Mozart's four concertos for horn are among the early masterworks for the instrument, but the best of the others has to be the sublime Concerto for Clarinet, K. 622 (another work from his last year). Many players insist--and I agree--that it remains today the finest concerto for the instrument.

Chamber music. This remains tricky as one has to answer the question, How many in a chamber? That said, the most influential work (and my favorite) for smaller forces is the Serenade No. 10, K. 361, also known as the Gran Partita, a truly monumental work for 13 players. Composers as diverse as Dvorak, Richard Strauss, Alban Berg, and others have modeled works on Mozart's original. I keep struggling to find a favorite performance; rumor has it that there is either a Klemperer or Furtwangler (I can't recall which) out there...That said, I know that I need to get to know the chamber music much better. I guess that's why I own Mozart's complete works.

Symphonies. Easy peasy. No. 40, G-minor, K. 550. Part of three consecutive symphonies written in less than three months in summer, 1788.

Opera. This one is up for grabs in the minds of many. Some say Don Giovanni; others, including me, insist on Le Nozze di Figaro. I've probably seen DG more than any opera, period, even having attended a performance in the theater where it premiered in Prague (talk about flirting with history!). But, if only for the second act finale, Figaro is number one. All of that cascading music, which flows from one section to another (and with obvious tempo choices) is just a miracle. But of course, it is difficult to knock off the penultimate scene in DG with the trombones whisking the evil Don into the bowels of hell.

Vocal music. One has to remember that, besides opera, Mozart's contributions to vocal music are wide-ranging. He was even able to write masterful church music for his Salzburg employer's "brief" masses. But Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618, is--in all of its simplicity--among the most beautiful works composed for mixed voices. And one cannot forget the "Et Incarnatus Est" movement from the uncompleted C-minor mass, K. 427. This was allegedly written for performance by Mozart's wife and if so, she was one hell of a singer!

Of course there is the Requiem, K. 626, that work that "killed him." This much is known: there was a black-cloaked stranger, but it wasn't Salieri, who had nothing to do with the commission or the writing of the music. What we have in Mozart's hand remain sketchy at best--I've seen the facsimile of the manuscript. We don't really know who wrote what and many other attempts have been made to complete it "as Mozart would have." But we don't know that answer and we never will. So for me, I'll stay close to the original....

Catch a listen to my own recording sometime. Oops, it was never distributed. Guess you'll have to visit and share a glass or two with me. Mozart and Riesling a good pairing? Only if the latter is dry.