Opera Without Words: András Schiff's Mozart Interpretation

For András Schiff, Mozart's Piano Concertos are "operas without a stage and without singers." So the idea of interweaving the two genres is obvious, as Schiff does in this performance with his Capella Barca in Vicenza, founded in 1999. Mozart's 20th Piano Concerto follows the Don Giovanni Overture without interruption. Both works, like Bach's chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, also on the programme, are in D minor – a key that, for the composer, always symbolises somber thoughts and premonitions of death. Schiff, one of the great native musical speakers of the Austro-German-Hungarian repertoire, also appears in this recording in conversation and as conductor of Mozart's 35th Symphony.

Soloist: 

András Schiff (Piano)

Ensemble: 

Cappella Andrea Barca