Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos 16 and 26 'Coronation' (arr Ignaz Lachner)

The fashion for rearranging popular concert works for the enjoyment of domestic music making was widespread throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The two Mozart piano concertos featured here, arranged by Ignaz Lachner for piano, string quartet and double bass, were most likely conceived for such a purpose. K. 451 is one of Mozart's most brilliant and extroverted concertos, radiating grandeur, energy and virtuosity, while the effortlessly elegant K. 537 was given its nickname after Mozart performed it at a private concert celebrating the coronation of Emperor Leopold II in Frankfurt. The intimacy of Lachner's arrangements allow us to experience these familiar masterpieces from fresh perspectives revealing new facets of Mozart's inexhaustible imagination.