I heard this piano concerto today, and searched for an interpretation that I liked. I was unable to find a recording of the entire work; many recordings present just a single movement, and I knew that you’d like to hear the entire work.
Though Mozart likely began composing his last piano concerto sometime in 1788, he would not complete it until January 1791; after composing the first two movements and 39 measures of the finale, he likely realized that his other recently written concertos would suffice for his upcoming performances and saved the unfinished work for later.
The intervening years would be difficult ones for the composer, marked by a decline in his popularity with the Viennese public, fewer compositions and financial woes.
When a concert opportunity presented itself, he dusted off the unfinished concerto and completed it. Mozart performed the premiere himself at a concert in Vienna on March 4, 1791, beginning a triumphant comeback. Sadly, it would be his final public appearance as a pianist, as he would die the following December at age 35.
Listen now as Emil Gilels plays this wonderful, lyrical concerto:
