Featured Selection: Concerti for Two Pianos

Here we have two joyful conceni for two skilled soloists composed by two young geniuses. Mozart's Concerto, a staple of the repertoire and a great favorite with listeners everywhere, was written when its composer was 23; Mendelssohn's, a considerable rarity, dates from when he was only 14. If you think for a moment about most 23-year-olds of your acquaintance, or any 14-year-old you know, then listen to this music, you will surely be astounded.

Long adored by duo-piano teams and the public (therefore not ignored by recording companies), Mozan's Two-Piano Concerto was a milestone in the development of instrumental dialogue. Its bubbling fountain of melodies and elegant keyboard figurations sits atop a framework of classical forms--sonata, A B A, rondo--which, in turn, supports an idiom of the most ingratiating familial intimacy, that of a brother and sister having fun together. Mozart probably wrote it to play with his sister, Nannerl, who, like him, was a frustrated former prodigy still living at home with her father.

Mendelssohn, in the first half of the 19th century, was the only prodigy who deserved comparison to Mozart. He played the violin well and the piano marvelously, composed with Mozartean facility, and he also had a dear and talented sister, Fanny. The great pianist Ignaz Moscheles met the children in 1824 and wrote: "This is a family the like of which I have never known. Felix, a boy of 15, is a phenomenon. What are all prodigies as compared with him? Gifted children but nothing else ... His elder sister Fanny, also extraordinarily gifted, played by heart and with admirable precision .... " Moscheles was shown the lad's year-old "double concerto" (probably this one, because he later shared in its London premiere with Felix) and called it "so full of genius, and at the same time so correct and thorough"!

Most likely, Mendelssohn wrote this work with himself and Fanny in mind. The miracle is that, although Mozart's Two-Piano Concerto remained unpublished and could not have been known to the boy, similarities to the Mozart abound in the treatment of musical dialogue, classical forms, charming tenderness, and highspirited virtuoso display. Impossible though it is, the work seems almost an extension into the next era of Mozart's glittering original.

Our soloists are as well-matched as the parts they have to play, the conductor knows his business, and the orchestral players sound quite caught up in the proceedings. Our geniuses would be proud.

Here we have two joyful conceni for two skilled soloists composed by two young geniuses. Mozart's Concerto, a staple of the repertoire and a great favorite with listeners everywhere, was written when its composer was 23; Mendelssohn's, a considerable rarity, dates from when he was only 14. If you think for a moment about most 23-year-olds of your acquaintance, or any 14-year-old you know, then listen to this music, you will surely be astounded.

Long adored by duo-piano teams and the public (therefore not ignored by recording companies), Mozan's Two-Piano Concerto was a milestone in the development of instrumental dialogue. Its bubbling fountain of melodies and elegant keyboard figurations sits atop a framework of classical forms--sonata, A B A, rondo--which, in turn, supports an idiom of the most ingratiating familial intimacy, that of a brother and sister having fun together. Mozart probably wrote it to play with his sister, Nannerl, who, like him, was a frustrated former prodigy still living at home with her father.

Mendelssohn, in the first half of the 19th century, was the only prodigy who deserved comparison to Mozart. He played the violin well and the piano marvelously, composed with Mozartean facility, and he also had a dear and talented sister, Fanny. The great pianist Ignaz Moscheles met the children in 1824 and wrote: "This is a family the like of which I have never known. Felix, a boy of 15, is a phenomenon. What are all prodigies as compared with him? Gifted children but nothing else ... His elder sister Fanny, also extraordinarily gifted, played by heart and with admirable precision .... " Moscheles was shown the lad's year-old "double concerto" (probably this one, because he later shared in its London premiere with Felix) and called it "so full of genius, and at the same time so correct and thorough"!

Most likely, Mendelssohn wrote this work with himself and Fanny in mind. The miracle is that, although Mozart's Two-Piano Concerto remained unpublished and could not have been known to the boy, similarities to the Mozart abound in the treatment of musical dialogue, classical forms, charming tenderness, and highspirited virtuoso display. Impossible though it is, the work seems almost an extension into the next era of Mozart's glittering original.

Our soloists are as well-matched as the parts they have to play, the conductor knows his business, and the orchestral players sound quite caught up in the proceedings. Our geniuses would be proud.