Documentary about Mozart in Vienna and Prague, "Mozart and the other side of the coin" followed by the perfomance at the Grosse Galerie, Schloss Schönbrunn, Vienna (1991) André Previn - conductor and soloist Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491 24:11 Allegro 38:45 Larghetto 46:34 Allegretto Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart hardly ever did anything by halves. When he decided to compose his magnum opues, he based it on a play considered downright seditious at the Austrian court and banned by the royal censors. His librettist da Ponte was assigned the onerous task of convincing the emperor the operatic version would not set the tumbrils rolling. Da Ponte must have been a super salesman, because not only was "The Marriage of Figaro" performed, it opened the season - Mozart wouldn't have it any other way. While perhaps not rife with the political satire of its original author, Pierre Caron de Beaumarchais, whose leading character "Figaro" is a pun on his own name, le Fils Caron (Caron junior), Mozart's work asks some pretty basic questions about the relationship of men and women, the aristocracy and their servants, and is, to this day, possibly the most mature, genuinely human operatic composition ever written, with sublimely beautiful music that supports, intensifies and enhances the drama every step of the way. Like Mozart's operas, concerto K. 491 is solid drama from start to finish, with a minor harmonic structure reminiscent of "Don Giovanni". In our performance, recorded at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the host of "Mozart on Tour" does double-duty as soloist and conductor of the European Chamber Orchestra. Watch other Mozart On Tour's episodes: goo.gl/XkXVvz Subscribe to EuroArts: goo.gl/jrui3M

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