Mozart: Piano Concertos, etc., Vol.10

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Gábor Takács-Nagy continue their acclaimed survey of Mozart's Piano Concertos with this tenth volume, concentrating on the very early works of the child-genius composer. As an exercise, his father, Leopold, tasked the eleven-year-old Mozart with creating concertos from existing works by (then popular, but now mostly forgotten) other composers. This 'pasticcio' technique was in fact quite common in the late baroque and early classical periods, especially for the creation of dramatic entertainment. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet explains: 'Mozart's contribution extends only to the orchestral part, for Mozart did not alter a note in the keyboard part of those pieces that Leopold had chosen for him. Excellent pedagogue that he was, Leopold did not only prepare only an exercise in orchestration, but also a procedure to allow his miraculously gifted young son to become acquainted with the form of the concerto.' The four concertos are complemented by two overtures from Mozart's earliest works in the operatic genre: Apollo et Hyacinthus and Bastien und Bastienne.