About the work
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, was completed in March 1785 and premiered the same month at the Burgtheater Vienna with Mozart at the piano. It belongs to the great series of Vienna piano concertos that Mozart wrote between 1782 and 1786 and is one of the most-performed works in the classical concert repertoire.
Plot
The concerto comprises three movements with a total duration of about 28 minutes. First movement, Allegro maestoso, in C major: a march-like military opening, followed by an entry of the piano with sparkling figuration. The development plays virtuoso games with motivic ideas; Mozart's piano cadenza has not survived, modern soloists play their own (e.g. Brendel, Casadesus) or those of later composers (Hummel, Reinecke, Britten). Second movement, Andante, in F major: the famous slow movement — softly muted strings, a triplet bass-line, the piano floats over it like a sung aria. The melody became internationally known as the title theme of the Swedish film „Elvira Madigan" (Bo Widerberg, 1967), which is why the concerto is sometimes called „the Elvira Madigan concerto". Third movement, Allegro vivace assai: a lively rondo with playful exchanges between piano and orchestra, ending in a brilliant coda.
Cultural significance
Piano Concerto No. 21 is, alongside the D minor concerto K. 466 and the A major concerto K. 488, the most popular Mozart piano concerto. The Andante is one of the most-loved slow movements in classical music. Famous recordings include Géza Anda, Daniel Barenboim, Friedrich Gulda, Murray Perahia, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Hélène Grimaud and Hewitt. Mozart's writing for piano and orchestra in this concerto reaches a near-perfect dialogic balance — the model for all later piano concertos.