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Piano Concertos KV. 413, KV. 414 & KV. 415
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

La Petite Bande

Piano Concertos KV. 413, KV. 414 & KV. 415

Price: € 19.95
Format: SACD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917275223
Catnr: CC 72752
Release date: 10 February 2017
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917275223
Catalogue number
CC 72752
Release date
10 February 2017

"A superb performance, and recording – which sounds perfectly fine even on my bog-standard CD player"

Music Web International, 31-1-2018
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About the album

Mozart conceived the 3 piano concerti KV 414, 413, and 415 in 1782, one year after he had settled in Vienna as a more or less free-lance musician. From onset, his idea was to get these works published; he obviously expected a positive response from the public, not only on the financial level but also as a composer and piano virtuoso. In order to enhance the attraction for his publication, he decided to write these concertos in such a way that they could be performed not only with full orchestra, but also with a reduced accompaniment of only string quartet. Clearly, Mozart did not consider this strategic starting point as an artistic limitation, but rather as a challenge: in fact, already the score without the wind parts should leave nothing to be desired. This resulted in a very careful and beautiful string writing, matching the solo part in the most effective and intimate way. The wind parts were then conceived to accentuate and “color” certain passages in the accompaniment with even more depth. For this recording, Sigiswald Kuijken replaces the cello with a double-bass as its role is purely that of a basso continuo. This is a new and exciting release in the discography of La Petite Bande.
Driemaal Mozart
Mozart schreef zijn drie pianoconcerten KV 413, 414 en 415 in 1782, een jaar nadat hij zichzelf vestigde als een soort freelance musicus in Wenen. Van begin af aan was het zijn plan om deze werken te publiceren. Het is duidelijk dat hij een positieve reactie van het publiek verwachtte, niet alleen financieel maar ook als een componist en pianovirtuoos. Om meer aandacht te trekken voor een mogelijke publicatie besloot hij om de concerten zo te schrijven dat de begeleiding zowel door volledig orkest (dus met strijkers én blazers), als door een strijkkwartet geschreven kon worden. Mozart zag dit niet als een beperking, maar juist als een uitdaging. Het resultaat is een zeer zorgvuldige compositie voor de strijkers, die de partij van de solist op meest effectieve en intieme manier aanvullen. De blazerspartijen dienen vooral als middel om bepaalde accenten te leggen en extra kleur en diepgang toe te voegen aan bepaalde passages.

Sigiswald Kuijken besloot voor deze uitvoering om de cellopartij te vervangen voor een contrabas. De reden hiervoor is puur muzikaal. In deze werken functioneert de lage partij vooral als essentiële basis voor de rest van de strijkers, waarbij vaak de linkerhand van de pianist gedubbeld wordt. Deze fundamentele bas komt beter tot zijn recht op een contrabas, waar traditioneel zo'n partij dan ook op gespeeld wordt.
Sigiswald Kuijken: Mozart schrieb die drei Klavierkonzerte KV 414, 413 und 415 1782, ein Jahr nachdem er sich als mehr oder weniger freiberuflicher Musiker in Wien niedergelassen hatte. Von Anfang an wollte er diese Werke verlegt sehen; offensichtlich erwartete er sich eine positive Reaktion des Publikums, nicht nur auf finanzieller Basis, sondern auch als Komponist und Klaviervirtuose. Um die Attraktion für sein Publikum zu verstärken, konzipierte er die Werke so, dass sie nicht nur mit vollem Orchester (also mit Streichern und Bläsern), sondern auch mit der reduzierten Begleitung eines Streichquartetts gespielt werden konnten. Mozart sah diesen strategischen Ausgangspunkt eindeutig nicht als künstlerische Einschränkung, sondern vielmehr als Herausforderung: schon die Partitur ohne Bläserstimmen sollte nichts zu wünschen übrig lassen. Daraus resultierte ein sehr durchdachter, wunderschöner Streicherpart, der das Solo auf effektivste und intimste Weise ergänzt. Die Bläserstimmen wurden dann gesetzt, um bestimmte Passagen der Begleitung zu betonen und mit zusätzlicher Tiefe zu „färben“.

Obwohl Mozart in seinen Ankündigungen und dem Druck dieser Konzerte immer die „gewöhnliche“ Besetzung des Streichquartettes (zwei Violinen, Viola und Cello) erwähnt, habe ich mir die Freiheit genommen, das Cello in unseren Konzerten und Aufnahmen der Konzerte gegen einen Kontrabass zu tauschen. Der Grund dafür war rein musikalisch. Hört und betrachtet man diese Werke, findet man im Vergleich mit Mozarts eigenen Quartetten für Violine, Bratsche, Cello und Klavier oder seinen Trios für Violine, Cello und Klavier deutliche Unterschiede in der Behandlung des Streicherbasses. In diesen Klavierkonzerten spielt der Streicherbass nur die essentielle Basslinie der gesamten Textur und verdoppelt sehr oft in vereinfachter Weise die linke Hand des Solisten. So zeigt diese sogenannte Cellostimme genau das, was die üblichen „basso“-Parts in Orchesterwerken oder generell im konventionelleren Divertimento-Stil zeigen: sie bietet und stärkt den (höchst notwendigen) fundamentalen Bass, auf dem die gesamte Konstruktion ruht. Daher war die Entscheidung für den Kontrabass anstelle eines Cellos in dieser reduzierten Fassung der Konzerte für mich eine offensichtliche.

Artist(s)

La Petite Bande

La Petite Bande (Belgium) was founded in 1972 by Sigiswald Kuijken at the request of the record company Harmonia Mundi (Germany) in order to record Lully's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, under the direction of Gustav Leonhardt. The orchestra takes its name and constitution from Lully's own orchestra at the court of Louis XIV. All its members are internationally renowned specialists in the early music field. Although originally La Petite Bande was not meant to become a permanent orchestra, the success of the recordings was such that they began to give concerts regularly. Having initially concentrated mainly on French music, the orchestra's repertoire has expanded over the years to include music by the Italian masters and that of Bach, Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart...
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La Petite Bande (Belgium) was founded in 1972 by Sigiswald Kuijken at the request of the record company Harmonia Mundi (Germany) in order to record Lully's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, under the direction of Gustav Leonhardt. The orchestra takes its name and constitution from Lully's own orchestra at the court of Louis XIV. All its members are internationally renowned specialists in the early music field.

Although originally La Petite Bande was not meant to become a permanent orchestra, the success of the recordings was such that they began to give concerts regularly. Having initially concentrated mainly on French music, the orchestra's repertoire has expanded over the years to include music by the Italian masters and that of Bach, Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and others.

The 18-part CD series 'Cantatas of J.S. Bach' (ACCENT) is complete since February 2014. Sigiswald Kuijken

applies the latest findings in Bach research: no choir, but rather a vocal quartet together with a minimal instrumental scoring. In this way, the fine musical texture of these cantatas can be much better (and more naturally) revealed.

La Petite Bande has recorded instrumental as well as vocal music, including operas and oratorios from the Baroque and Classical periods. La Petite Bande currently makes recordings for Accent, Challenge, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Denon, Seon/Virgin and Hyperion.

La Petite Bande has performed in a multitude of international festivals and concert series, in Europe, Japan, Australia, South America and China.

From 1997 to 2018, La Petite Bande was resident in the city of Leuven.


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Sigiswald Kuijken (conductor)

Sigiswald Kuijken was born in 1944 close to Brussels. He studied violin at the conservatories of Bruges and Brussels, completing his studies at the latter institution with Maurice Raskin in 1964. He came into contact with early music at a very young age, together with his brother Wieland. Studying on his own, he gained a thorough knowledge of specific 17th- and 18th-century performance techniques and conventions of interpretation on violin and viola da gamba. This led to the introduction, in 1969, of a more authentic way of playing the violin, whereby the instrument was no longer held under the chin, but lay freely on the shoulder;  this was to have a crucial influence on the approach to the violin repertoire...
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Sigiswald Kuijken was born in 1944 close to Brussels. He studied violin at the conservatories of Bruges and Brussels, completing his studies at the latter institution with Maurice Raskin in 1964. He came into contact with early music at a very young age, together with his brother Wieland. Studying on his own, he gained a thorough knowledge of specific 17th- and 18th-century performance techniques and conventions of interpretation on violin and viola da gamba. This led to the introduction, in 1969, of a more authentic way of playing the violin, whereby the instrument was no longer held under the chin, but lay freely on the shoulder; this was to have a crucial influence on the approach to the violin repertoire and was consequently adopted by many players starting in the early 1970s.
From 1964 to 1972, Sigiswald Kuijken was a member of the Brussels-based Alarius Ensemble (with Wieland Kuijken, Robert Kohnen and Janine Rubinlicht), which performed throughout Europe and in the United States. He subsequently undertook individual chamber music projects with a number of Baroque music specialists, chief among which were his brothers Wieland and Barthold and Robert Kohnen, as well as Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Anner Bylsma and René Jacobs.
In 1972, with the encouragement of Deutsche Harmonia Mundi and Gustav Leonhardt, he founded the Baroque orchestra La Petite Bande, which since then has given innumerable concerts throughout Europe, Australia, South America, China and Japan, and has made many recordings for a number of labels (including Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Seon, Virgin, Accent, Denon, Hyperion and Challenge.
In 1986 he founded the Kuijken String Quartet (with François Fernandez, Marleen Thiers and Wieland Kuijken), which specialises in the quartets and quintets of the Classical period. Recordings of quartets and quintets by Mozart and Haydn have appeared on Denon and Challenge.
Since 1998 Sigiswald Kuijken occasionally brings together two generations Kuijken (his daughters Veronica and Sara and his brother Wieland) to perform string quartets of later periods (Debussy, Schumann, Beethoven, Schubert) often combined with Lieder by Marie Kuijken, soprano and also daughter of Sigiswald, and Veronica Kuijken, piano. Recordings of the two generations have been made for Arcana and Challenge Records.
In 2004 Sigiswald Kuijken reintroduced in practical performance the violoncello da spalla (shoulder cello) very probably the instrument Bach had in mind when writing his six suites for violoncello solo.
From 1971 to 1996, Sigiswald Kuijken taught Baroque violin at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague and from 1993 to 2009 at the Koninklijk Muziekconservatorium in Brussels.
For many years he was a guest teacher at institutions such as the Royal College of Music in London, Salamanca University, the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the Conservatoire of Geneva and the Musikhochschule of Leipzig. Since 1998, Sigiswald Kuijken occasionally conducts “modern” symphonic orchestras in romantic programs ( Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn).

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Marleen Thiers (viola)

Marleen Thiers (1945) studied with Arthur Grumiaux and Maurice Raskin at the Conservatory of Brussels. Just like her husband, Sigiswald Kuijken, she immediately showed a special penchant for period instruments and performance practice. She plays first viola in La Petite Bande and is a cofounder and viola player with the Two Generations Kuijken.
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Marleen Thiers (1945) studied with Arthur Grumiaux and Maurice Raskin at the Conservatory of Brussels. Just like her husband, Sigiswald Kuijken, she immediately showed a special penchant for period instruments and performance practice. She plays first viola in La Petite Bande and is a cofounder and viola player with the Two Generations Kuijken.

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Sara Kuijken (violin)

Sara Kuijken (1968) studied viola at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, where she obtained a 1st prize in 1989 and in 1992 the Higher Certificate magna cum laude. At the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam she obtained a degree as a performing musician in 1995. Together with seven other musicians, she founded the Oxalys chamber music ensemble, in which she played viola and served as artistic director until 1998. This ensemble released two CDs, with impressionist and with contemporary Russian chamber music. Her father Sigiswald Kuijken gave her some baroque violin instruction in 1994. She is a regular participant in La Petite Bande. Since the academic year 2005-06 she has been assistant instructor of baroque violin at the Royal...
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Sara Kuijken (1968) studied viola at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, where she obtained a 1st prize in 1989 and in 1992 the Higher Certificate magna cum laude. At the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam she obtained a degree as a performing musician in 1995. Together with seven other musicians, she founded the Oxalys chamber music ensemble, in which she played viola and served as artistic director until 1998. This ensemble released two CDs, with impressionist and with contemporary Russian chamber music. Her father Sigiswald Kuijken gave her some baroque violin instruction in 1994. She is a regular participant in La Petite Bande. Since the academic year 2005-06 she has been assistant instructor of baroque violin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels.

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Elise Christiaens (double bass)

Composer(s)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose actual name is Joannes Chrysotomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a composer, pianist, violinist and conductor from the classical period, born in Salzburg. Mozart was a child prodigy. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart is considered to be one of the most influential composers of all of music's history. Within the classical tradition, he was able to develop new musical concepts which left an everlasting impression on all the composers that came after him. Together with Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven he is part of the First Viennese School.  At 17, Mozart was engaged as...
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose actual name is Joannes Chrysotomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a composer, pianist, violinist and conductor from the classical period, born in Salzburg. Mozart was a child prodigy. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart is considered to be one of the most influential composers of all of music's history. Within the classical tradition, he was able to develop new musical concepts which left an everlasting impression on all the composers that came after him. Together with Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven he is part of the First Viennese School. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position. From 1763 he traveled with his family through all of Europe for three years and from 1769 he traveled to Italy and France with his father Leopold after which he took residence in Paris. On July 3rd, 1778, his mother passed away and after a short stay in Munich with the Weber family, his father urged him to return to Salzburg, where he was once again hired by the Bishop. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death.


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Press

A superb performance, and recording – which sounds perfectly fine even on my bog-standard CD player
Music Web International, 31-1-2018

A feeling of gentle, cultivated musicianship pervades the disc's 74 minutes, which anyone already familiar with its contents will appreciate.
BBC Music Magazine, 01-12-2017

Already the used fortepiano is sensational!
Concerto - DE, 01-7-2017

More than pleasantly surprised by the sober and at the same time clever interpretation of La Petite Bande.
Kerk en leven, 16-6-2017

The result can be completely convinced, as the balance is perfect and musical as well as cast from a single mold.
Stereo & Fono Forum, 01-5-2017

Really something for lovers of old Instruments. You are spoiled with three piano concerts, but not the usual versions.
Klassieke zaken, 24-4-2017

Fresh played without compromise and yet very pure, very beautiful expression but quite bland sentiment, in a few words: fresh and crispy!
Kerk en Leven, 04-4-2017

(...) Everything fits perfectly or complete each other, and the strings are mostly an essential energy source of the music. (...)
Pianist, 03-4-2017

The chamber musical approach is the big plus of this SACD
Concerti, 01-4-2017

Vivid and beautifully shaped performances. The recorded sound is warm and well balanced.
Pizzicato, 08-3-2017

The short of it: This is a ‘must have’.  Three of Mozart’s sunniest piano concerti in chamber version is not new on disk. But this one is.
HRAudio, 08-2-2017

Play album Play album
01.
Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K. 413/387a: Allegro
10:12
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Marie Kuijken
02.
Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K. 413/387a: Larghetto
07:33
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Marie Kuijken
03.
Piano Concerto No. 11 in F Major, K. 413/387a: Tempo di Minuetto
05:41
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Marie Kuijken
04.
Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415/387b: Allegro
10:44
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Veronica Kuijken
05.
Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415/387b: Andante
07:23
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Veronica Kuijken
06.
Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415/387b: Rondeau. Allegro
08:20
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Veronica Kuijken
07.
Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414/385p: Allegro
10:00
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Veronica Kuijken
08.
Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414/385p: Andante
07:45
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Veronica Kuijken
09.
Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major, K. 414/385p: Rondeau. Allegretto
06:49
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marleen Thiers, Sara Kuijken, Elise Christiaens, Veronica Kuijken

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