Dénes Várjon and Concerto Budapest II A Zeneakadémia saját szervezésű programja

The second concert of the joint Mozart series of Dénes Várjon and Concert Budapest (conductor: András Keller) could well be entitled ‘evening of the Muses’. The programme features (in chronological order) works of Mozart written in the spring and summer of 1784. Mozart dedicated the Piano Concerto in G major to his Viennese student, Barbara Ployer. The Sonata in B-flat major was written for Regina Strinasacchi, a much celebrated violinist of her time. ú On one occasion Mozart noticed that this famous fellow composer Christoph Willibald Gluck was sitting in the auditorium, so he surprised him with a cheerful improvisation (‘10 variations for the Gluck aria starting Unser dummer Pöbel meint’), and later on he noted down his series of variations. The Piano Concerto in B-flat major was written for the blind pianist Maria Theresia Paradies. The work is a masterful blend of passion, beauty and sorrow. However, the Piano Quintet in E-flat major may represent true inspiration for us since Mozart – in a letter written to his father – considered it to be the best thing he had written in his life.