LDV106

15 PHILIPPE CASSARD Why did you choose a lively tempo in the Andante of the concerto? Well, precisely because it’s not a Romantic Beethoven adagio or some funeral march, but a Mozart andante with variations in the Classical style and in 3/8 time (three quavers in the bar), not 3/4 (three crotchets in the bar). For a large part of the twentieth century there was a persistent tradition of slowing down the middle movements of Mozart’s concertos considerably. Some editions removed the alla breve markings, as in the D minor Concerto K466. The result? Even with the most beautiful tone in the world, musicians inevitably added pathos, expressivity and thicker textures where Mozart intended theatre, that is, movement and action, as in this Andante. The entrance of the piano, after the orchestra’s sinuous and astonishingly chromatic introduction, already resembles the sort of vocal line he was to give Donna Anna! There’s no need to pile on the expression here: the highly ornate, accented, syncopated piano writing portrays the character, tormented, distraught, imprisoned in his or her grief.