Mozart, Piano Concerto in G major, K.453, and Ravel, Menuet sur le nom de Haydn (Mozartwoche 1999)

The former "Camerata academica Salzburg" was renamed simply "Camerata Salzburg" in 2001. It was founded in 1951 by Bernhard Paumgartner, who was its head and mentor for many years. From 1978 to 1997 its artistic director was Sándor Végh and in 1997 Roger Norrington was appointed principal conductor of the ensemble. The Camerata Salzburg can be heard every year at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival. Alexander Janiczek, who conducts this concert, comes from Salzburg and has been the concertmaster of the Camerata Salzburg since 1991. The soloist is Paul Gulda. This work, together with its fellow pieces K. 450 and 451, marks the beginning of an entirely new concerto concept, one that made great demands on the performer and whose aim was the synthesis of the traditional concerto form and the symphony. This is brilliantly illustrated in K. 453 by the totally new importance given to the orchestra. It no longer merely accompanies the solo part and highlights the formal contours, but develops its own unique and colorful personality, characterized above all by the poignant use of the woodwinds. The solo part becomes more and more the soul of the composer, expressing his innermost feelings and rejecting technical brilliancy for its own sake. Mozart thus clears the way for the intensely personal concerto form of the 19th century, which, incidentally, will make it practically impossible for the soloist to conduct at the keyboard, as he had until then.