Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 5 in D major, K. 175

Wolf​gang Ama​deus Mo​zart (1756 - 1791) - Piano Concerto No. 5 in D major, K. 175 (1773)

I. Allegro [0:00]
II. Andante ma un poco adagio [8:13]
III. Allegro [16:30]

(Cadenzas: Wolfgang Amadeus Mo​zart (I and II), Mur​ray Pe​ra​hia (III))

Mur​ray Per​ahia, piano
English Chamber Orchestra (1981)

Moz​art's 5th piano concerto is his first original work in the genre. It is in three movements and typically lasts around 21 minutes.

"Moz​art's Piano Concerto No. 5 in D major, K. 175, dates from December 1773; it was almost certainly written for the composer himself, then aged 18, to perform. By the standards of its day, and certainly with regard to M​ozart's previous keyboard concertos (which were basically transcriptions and arrangements of works by other composers), the work must be regarded as groundbreakingly original and exceptionally brilliant -- indeed, entirely without equal at the time. The key is a festive D major, and a particular grandeur and spaciousness is underscored by the use of trumpets and drums in the orchestration. The young virtuoso matched this mood with a solo part of a new brilliance and technical level of challenge.

The opening movement, marked Allegro, is characterized by a constant sense of forward motion, perhaps tending toward a somewhat feverish intensity remarkable enough in a work of this early period. There is the usual opportunity for a cadenza towards the close of this sonata-form movement. It is followed by a restful Andante in G, whose Italian title is also qualified by the additional instruction 'ma un poco Adagio,' suggesting a somewhat more measured tempo. The concerto ends with a brilliant Allegro in opera buffa mode, in which Mo​zart already gives notice of his skills as a contrapuntist. It is known that the composer remained especially fond of K. 175, and included it in his Vienna concerts on several occasions during the early 1780s. Mo​zart also reworked some of the orchestration in preparation for the concerto's publication around 1785, and furnished a new finale (the Rondo, K. 382)."

(source: AllMusic)

This edition of the score, found on IMSLP, was transcribed by Gory (email: info@gory.jazztel.es), and the cadenzas were found on IMSLP (I and II) or sloppily transcribed by me (III).