Essentially the question boils down to the nature of each instrument - the piano, then as now was the preeminent concerto instrument beside the violin. Given the mechanical ability of the piano to play chromatically with no alteration in timbre, and the horn's inability to do the same without stopping, one can see that the horn soloist has a much more difficult time in ornamenting the music greatly, whereas the pianist can go whizbang all over the keyboard. Having said that, the true test of one's musicality was still how tastefully one decorated and changed the basic melody, not how bombastic one could get. In regard to Herr Pizka's remarks, it is historically correct performance practice to mess around with the piano concertos, the master himself said so many times in his personal correspondence. I agree that the horn concertos, except for cadenzas and the occassional little interpretive mordent or grace note, should be played the way the man wrote them. paxmaha
Bill Gross <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: To help me understand performance during Mozart period, the first question is about this part of the review of the Mozart piano concerto. 07:09 AM CST on Friday, March 17, 2006 By OLIN CHISM / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News [. . .] The most radical move toward Mozart's day is Mr. Levin's. He gives the DSO more notes for its money, often playing along during orchestral tuttis whereas most pianists sit them out, throwing in some little flourishes and improvising the cadenzas. All this is documented from the old days. [. . .] If I understand Mr. Chism correctly, this improvisation by the pianist was not unusual during Mozart age. From Hans answer to my original question, this improvisation (if that is the proper term) was not the accepted practice for horn players. Do these two statements accurately reflect the way music was performed in this period? If those statements are correct, why would one instrument play exactly as the composer desired and the other improvised during a performance? _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/paxmaha%40yahoo.com --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments. _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
