Mozart As You’ve Never Heard Him?

Fine Arts Quartet. Photo courtesy of the Fine Arts Quartet.

21st century aspiring composers get attention for their music by posting recordings on YouTube. 18th and 19th century composers and their publishers had another option: transcription. In a free Milwaukee performance on Sunday, July 13, the Fine Arts Quartet will share transcribed editions of two piano concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

Transcriptions – done by either the original composer or another party – create a faithful adaptation of an original piece, often changing the instruments used in the original. Franz Liszt, for example, transcribed Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies for piano solo. The piano versions made it possible to perform and hear these pieces without hiring an orchestra (assuming one could find a fearless pianist). As well as making masterpieces accessible, reviewer Jens F. Laurson calls transcriptions “a chance to enjoy afresh that with which we are familiar.”

Mozart transcribed four of his 27 piano concerti, leaving the piano part intact and rewriting the orchestra score for a string quintet (two violins, viola, cello, and string bass). German conductor/composer Ignaz Lachner (1807-1895) continued the job, transcribing another dozen Mozart piano concertos for the same group of players.

The Lachner transcriptions were rediscovered by the FAQ’s first violinist Ralph Evans and championed by distinguished Israeli-American pianist Alon Goldstein. The Quartet has recorded 10 of them for the Naxos label. On July 13, the FAQ will perform Lachner’s transcriptions of Mozart’s Piano Concertos No. 16 and No. 26. Goldstein, who has performed the piano part in FAQ’s Lachner recordings, and bassist Volkan Orhon join the quartet for Sunday’s performance.

The Concerto No. 16 in D Major, completed in Vienna in 1784, was scored for an expanded orchestra that included horns, trumpets, and timpani. Writing for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Neal Zaslaw says the opening movement represents “the public, heroic Mozart at his best.” The second Andante movement is a conversation between soloist and orchestra, while the third movement is spirited and energetic. The piano part, in Mozart’s words, is designed “to make the performer sweat.”

In transcribing the piece, Lachner faced a challenge: maintaining the symphonic character of the work despite the replacement of an “expanded orchestra” with five string players.

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 26 in D Major became known as the “Coronation” concerto when the composer played it in 1790 during coronation celebrations for Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor. Musicologist Simon P. Keefe describes the Allegro first movement as “ostentatious virtuosity.” The contrasting second movement is melodic and lyrical, while the final rondo movement displays accessible character and brilliant piano passages.

Mozart left unwritten large sections of the piano’s left-hand part, apparently intending for the pianist to improvise the missing passages. On Sunday, pianist Goldstein will play a first cadenza by Andreas Staier (b. 1955) and a last movement cadenza of his own.

The FAQ’s Mid-Summer Concert will be held on Sunday, July 13 at the UW-Milwaukee Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd. The performance begins at 3 p.m., with a pre-concert talk at 2 p.m.  The concert, organized by the Friends of the Fine Arts Quartet, is free, and no tickets are required.