Henri Goraieb - Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-Flat Major, K. 456 - Live

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 - 1791): Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat Major, K. 456
Mozart completed the Piano Concerto No. 18 B-flat after recovering from a very heavy cold in 1784. The work is orchestrated for solo piano, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings. He wrote it for another Vienna virtuoso twenty-five years old, Maria Theresa Paradis, who was blind since childhood and was the daughter of a State Councilor of Lower Austria, and a godchild of the Empress Maria Theresa.

1. Allegro vivace
2. Andante un poco sostenuto (in G minor)
3. Allegretto vivace

Pianist, Henri GORAIEB (1935 - 2021)
Conductor, Jérôme Kaltenbach (1946 - )
‘Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique’

Live recording at the Grand Auditorium of the Radio France, 14 February 1980.

Henri Goraieb (1935 - 2021)
Born in Lebanon to a Lebanese father and a French mother, Henri Goraieb had the dual Lebanese-French culture. At only 13 years old, he performed for the first time Edward Grieg's Concerto in A minor. Later he went to Paris where he obtained the “Diplôme d’Etudes pour le Piano” at the age of 18 from “Conservatoire National de Musique” with the highest distinction. Then he obtained the temperament of concert pianist in Paris while training with great pedagogues, like Germaine Mounier and Marguerite Long. Finally, it was with the Russian pianist Oleg Ivanov, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, he was able to combine his profound musicality with the legendary Russian piano technique.
Henri Goraieb who played more than 70 concertos, was a soloist with many prestigious orchestras, and has given numerous concerts and recitals in major European capitals and cities. Two tours in Russia were greeted triumphantly. In Europe, India and various Middle Eastern countries, the press unanimously hailed the performances of this great pianist.
With his love and profound knowledge of the opera, Henri Goraieb animated for almost 20 years (1980s to 1990s) many programs broadcasted on the French National Radio “France Musique”; notably his weekly programs devoted to lyrical art named “Voix souvenirs”, and “Premières Loges” with the most prestigious voices of the time.