{"id":45621,"date":"2024-07-27T13:41:51","date_gmt":"2024-07-27T11:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9486ce3e-2a0c-4f1c-94af-517ab05fe20c"},"modified":"2024-07-27T14:07:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-27T12:07:17","slug":"which-is-your-favourite-piece-by-mozart-we-asked-ten-of-classical-musics-top-performers-the-results-are-intriguing","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/which-is-your-favourite-piece-by-mozart-we-asked-ten-of-classical-musics-top-performers-the-results-are-intriguing\/","title":{"rendered":"Which is your favourite piece by Mozart? We asked ten of classical music’s top performers. The results are intriguing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Saturday, 27 July 2024 at 11:41 AM<\/p>

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What’s your favourite work by the incomparable Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart<\/a><\/strong>? The ‘Jupiter’ Symphony? The Marriage of Figaro<\/em>? The Requiem? One of the late, great piano concertos? Takes some thinking about it, doesn’t it? <\/p>

Back in 2011, we asked 10 top performers to tell us about the great composer’s works that inspire them the most. <\/strong>The list of their choices makes interesting reading.<\/p>

Best of Mozart: nine essential works – and the recordings you need<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>
Favourite Mozart piece: the performers’ selections<\/h2>
1. Sir Neville Marriner (conductor)<\/strong> chooses the Requiem<\/strong><\/h3>The fact that the Requiem<\/em><\/strong><\/a> was unfinished by Mozart has always rather touched my imagination. Amid the chaos of his life, the destitution and the pressure of his operatic obligations, harassed by overwork and gravely ill, he produced music of such intensity \u2013 that he left it incomplete makes it all the more affecting.<\/p>
With the day of judgment, hope for salvation and so on expressed in somewhat austere operatic idioms, it is music of such dynamism that you can understand its place in the heart of most Mozart lovers, and ultimately forgive those composers and editors that have tried to become part of this work with their additions and subtractions. The fabric of the work is the essence of Mozart.<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/10-mozart-myths\"><strong>10 Mozart myths<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-julia-fischer-violinist-chooses-the-piano-fantasy-in-c-minor\"><strong>2. Julia Fischer (violinist) <\/strong>chooses the <strong>Piano Fantasy in C minor<\/strong><\/h3><p>All the minor key pieces show the real drama of Mozart. It counts for <em>Don Giovanni<\/em>, the G minor Symphony No. 40, the second movement of the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/viola-how-to-play-tune-clean-beginners\">viola<\/a><\/strong>, the A minor Piano Sonata. For me, Mozart\u2019s C minor Piano Fantasy is a fantastic example.<\/p><p>He\u2019s the only composer who changes so dramatically when you go to minor. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/franz-schubert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Schubert<\/a><\/strong> is very sad in major keys while <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/ludwig-van-beethoven\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Beethoven<\/a><\/strong> can be very dramatic. When Mozart starts a piece in a minor key, you know it\u2019s going to be a talk to God \u2013 something very philosophical. It makes me sad that all his violin concertos are written in major keys!<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-dame-mitsuko-uchida-pianist-chooses-the-piano-concerto-no-24-in-c-minor-k491\"><strong>3. Dame Mitsuko Uchida (pianist)<\/strong> chooses the <strong>Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K491<\/strong><\/h3><p>The C minor Piano Concerto, K491 has such a mysteriously, bleakly dark grandeur. This particular <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-concerto\">concerto<\/a><\/strong> deploys the entire set of winds and he uses their different emotional colours extremely cleverly.<\/p><p>That bleakness in the first movement comes from the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/flute\">flute<\/a><\/strong>, which gives me shivers every time I hear it, while there are those wonderful, almost warm-sounding clarinet sections in A flat major in the slow movement and then \u2013 the most amazing moment after all the darkness \u2013 the way the C major variations begin in the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/oboe-vs-clarinet\">oboe<\/a><\/strong> in the last movement.<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-pieces-flute-our-top-picks\">The best pieces for flute in the classical repertoire<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>To me, it\u2019s clear he wrote the Concerto\u2019s opening by twisting around the opening of the Fantasy in C minor [Julia Fischer’s choice above] \u2013 it is so haunting and shocking. The whole piece is so inspired.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mozart, Piano Concert Nr 24 c Moll KV 491 Rudolf Buchbinder Piano & Conducter, Wiener Phi\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/POWVTXuB68I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><ul><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/mozart-piano-concertos-best-recordings\/\">The best recordings of Mozart’s Piano Concertos<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/greatest-piano-concertos-all-time\/\">The greatest piano concertos of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-sir-thomas-allen-bass-baritone-chooses-the-marriage-of-figaro\"><strong>4. Sir Thomas Allen (bass-baritone)<\/strong> chooses <strong><em>The Marriage of Figaro<\/em><\/strong><\/h3><p>I could choose dozens of works, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/mozarts-marriage-of-figaro-guide\/\"><strong><em>The Marriage of Figaro<\/em><\/strong><\/a> probably inspires me most. It\u2019s an extraordinary piece which moves from one glorious moment to another and is also such a complete artistic entity. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/news\/mozart-s-marriage-figaro-voted-greatest-opera-all-time\/\">Mozart\u2019s <em>Marriage of Figaro<\/em> voted greatest opera of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>The study of the characters within it is lifelong \u2013 you can explore them again and again and always come up with variations in the results, partly depending on the chemistry of who\u2019s involved in each production. <\/p><ul><li><strong><a class=\"standard-card-new__article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/20-greatest-operas-all-time\/\">The 20 Greatest Operas of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>Aside from the two great baritone roles of Figaro and the Count, Susanna is so richly drawn, and the study of the countess \u2013 her greatness, her sadness and the reassurances that she needs \u2013 is extraordinary. It isn\u2019t just a comic work, either. There\u2019s also a tragedy and depth to the premise of its plot, too.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Le nozze di Figaro: "Hai gi\u00e0 vinta la causa!"..."Vedr\u00f2 mentr'io sospiro" Thomas Allen (1985) [SUBS]\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/J_WNaSbIsug?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/best-recordings-mozarts-clarinet-concerto\/\"><strong>The best recordings of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-barbara-bonney-soprano-chooses-et-incarnatus-est-from-the-mass-in-c-minor\"><strong>5. Barbara Bonney (soprano) <\/strong>chooses <strong>‘Et Incarnatus Est’ from the Mass in C minor<\/strong><\/h3><p>The most obvious choice for me would the \u2018Et Incarnatus Est\u2019 from the <em>C minor Mass<\/em> \u2013 it\u2019s one of the hardest pieces that he wrote because it demands so much tranquillity and so much sense of confidence.<\/p><p>It\u2019s really a very naked stand-out-there-in-front-of-the-audience piece \u2013 you have to really sing it like an instrument. But it\u2019s also one of his most beautiful pieces, very much like \u2018Ach, ich f\u00fchl\u2019s\u2019, Pamina\u2019s aria from <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/best-recordings-mozart-magic-flute\/\">The Magic Flute<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. <\/p><p>It\u2019s very bare and very gentle and open and there\u2019s nothing to hang on \u2013 except your nerves! You have to have very good control of breath and pitch. It\u2019s a <em>tour de force<\/em> in a very sweet and lilting way.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Miah Persson, Great mass C minor, Et Incarnatus Est.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qaiIqSTqHq8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-more-mozart-favourite-pieces-imogen-cooper-roger-norrington-and-more\">More Mozart favourite pieces: Imogen Cooper, Roger Norrington and more<\/h2><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-imogen-cooper-pianist-chooses-the-string-quintets\"><strong>6.<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/pianist-imogen-cooper-shares-the-music-that-has-shaped-her\/\">Imogen Cooper<\/a> (pianist) <\/strong>chooses<strong> the String Quintets<\/strong><\/h3><p>When I first heard Mozart’s String Quintets<em> <\/em>I was completely blown away. They have remained a central inspiration for my own Mozart playing since \u2013 the G minor, C major and particularly the D major.<\/p><p>Hearing the slow movement of the D major Quintet, a wonderful movement in G major, I thought I\u2019d died and gone to heaven. I\u2019d never heard such perfection. That can sound a cold, arid word. But he\u2019s not that \u2013 Mozart is a mixture of humanity and divinity.<\/p><p>It\u2019s sort of god-like but it\u2019s completely human in that there\u2019s every emotion. There\u2019s wit, humour, naughtiness, grief. But these are only words. What is behind it is just\u2026 well, you see, I\u2019m lost for words.<\/p><p\/><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/15-unusual-uses-mozart\/\"><strong>15 unusual uses for Mozart<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-sir-roger-norrington-conductor-chooses-idomeneo\"><strong>7. Sir Roger Norrington (conductor) <\/strong>chooses <strong><em>Idomeneo<\/em><\/strong><\/h3><p>I find <em>Idomeneo<\/em> very inspiring \u2013 after writing several operas as a boy, including <em>Mitridate<\/em>, Mozart suddenly started writing one as a man. He\u2019d certainly grown up in the intervening years \u2013 he\u2019d lost a good friend or two, he\u2019d lost his mother in Paris. He\u2019d also got away from his dad.<\/p><p>So he was on his own, and he was free, and he started composing in an extraordinarily creative and new way. He learned so much about writing opera and now he\u2019d learned so much about himself \u2013 and he poured it into this piece.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mozart Solitudini amiche - Zeffiretti lusinghieri | Marianne Croux - Queen Elisabeth Competition\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/weOr0dFB8WE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><p>It\u2019s a very special opera \u2013 with the revelation of the human heart from each character in turn and then together in a fantastic quintet in the last act. It\u2019s an amazing moment. It\u2019s an opera that makes you sit up from the word go and tells you so much about human nature, almost as if Mozart was saying \u2018yes, I know what to do now \u2013 I\u2019ve got it.\u2019<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/which-your-favourite-ralph-vaughan-williams-work\"><strong>Which is your favourite work by Vaughan Williams?<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-8-andrew-manze-violinist-amp-conductor-chooses-the-symphony-no-41-jupiter\"><strong>8. Andrew Manze (violinist & conductor) <\/strong>chooses the <strong>Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’<\/strong><\/h3><p>I first heard Mozart\u2019s ‘Jupiter’ Symphony (No. 41) as a boy and always enjoyed it. But then I conducted it for the first time. I\u2019d prepared the score, knew it very well, rehearsed it well too\u2026 and then in the concert it just hit me what an incredible piece this is \u2013 that finale with the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-fugue\">fugue<\/a><\/strong> going on and all the wonderful, incredible <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-a-melody\">melodies<\/a><\/strong> meshing together with such stunning complexity and virtuosity at the end.<\/p><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-i-was-almost-in-tears\">‘I was almost in tears’<\/h4><p>I was almost in tears because of the power, the perfection and the humanity of the music. In conducting terms, I was almost speechless. You can appreciate Mozart, admire him, study him, perform him a lot, but in the end there\u2019s something about his music that just goes beyond words and analysis. It hits you deep down, in a place not so many composers can reach.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mozart's Symphony No. 41, aka his 'Jupiter' Symphony \u2013 performed live by the London Mozart Players\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jsDpT2Ch8UU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/greatest-virtuosos-all-time\/\"><strong>The greatest virtuosos of all time<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-9-jane-glover-conductor-chooses-cosi-fan-tutte\"><strong>9. Jane Glover (conductor)<\/strong> chooses <strong><em>Cos\u00ec fan tutte<\/em><\/strong><\/h3><p>Like being asked \u2018What is your favourite play by Shakespeare?\u2019 it is almost always the one that you have most recently seen. However, I would have to choose his comic opera <em>Cos\u00ec fan tutte<\/em>. Out of all the operas and indeed, all of Mozart\u2019s music, it is the one that does still constantly uplift, inspire, amaze and challenge me.<\/p><p>Certainly in performance, but also when listening to it too, it still moves me to heights that are completely stratospheric. As a performer, my most memorable concert was of the Requiem \u2013 at midnight, 5 December 1991, the 200th anniversary of Mozart\u2019s death, I conducted the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.londonmozartplayers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">London Mozart Players<\/a><\/strong> at St Paul\u2019s Cathedral. It finished at 12.50am, exactly when he died. That was an extraordinary event.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cos\u00ec Fan Tutte - complete (English Subtitles)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MXCEuYL1pBU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><ul><li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/blog\/six-best%E2%80%A6-opera-baddies\"><strong>Six of the best opera baddies<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-10-jonathan-cohen-conductor-chooses-the-marriage-of-figaro\"><strong>10. Jonathan Cohen (conductor) <\/strong>chooses <strong><em>The Marriage of Figaro<\/em><\/strong><\/h3><p>You have to head to opera to distil everything that Mozart is about, so I\u2019d choose <em>The Marriage of Figaro<\/em>. As one of the great melodists of all time, Mozart had an incredible theatrical nature that you can hear at work in both the operas and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-chamber-music\">chamber music<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><p>This opera is the epitome of that \u2013 there are characters in the orchestra pit as well as on stage. Everyone\u2019s running around fast and having fun. Mozart had some difficult times in his life, but when he\u2019s happy, there\u2019s no one more joyful.<\/p><p>When I seriously studied <em>The Marriage of Figaro<\/em>, I started to appreciate its brilliance. To sit down and get inside a piece like this is a beautiful moment.<\/p><p><em>This article originally appeared in the January 2011 issue of BBC Music Magazine<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Saturday, 27 July 2024 at 11:41 AM What’s your favourite work by the incomparable Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? The ‘Jupiter’ Symphony? The Marriage of Figaro? The Requiem? One of the late, great piano concertos? Takes some thinking about it, doesn’t it? 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Favourite Mozart piece: the performers’ selections<\/h2>