Andriy Dragan, Musikkollegium Winterthur & Bogdan Božović - Franz Xaver Mozart: The Two Piano Concertos (2024)

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Andriy Dragan, Musikkollegium Winterthur & Bogdan Božović - Franz Xaver Mozart: The Two Piano Concertos (2024)

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With this second recording of piano concertos - following the Variations in 2021 - I am extending my Franz Xaver Mozart project. Already at an early stage in my career as a pianist, I felt a special connection to the compositions of Franz Xaver Mozart. It was his 1st Piano Concerto that I performed during my first orchestral performance abroad at the age of 13, that took place in Switzerland, accompanied by the INSO Lviv Orchestra. His music stirred my soul and still inspires me today. After my studies, I became intensively absorbed in Franz Xavier Mozart’s work. In the process, I kept discovering new precious musical gems. His work in Galicia continues to invigorate the multicultural life of the region to this day. With the expansion of this Franz Xaver Mozart project, I hope his music will step out of his father’s shadow, the great master Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and be recognised accordingly. I am convinced that his legacy has not yet been fully explored, which motivates me to continue my research.

Franz Xaver Mozart (1791-1844) was born in Vienna. He received a thorough musical education as a pianist and composer, first in Prague and then in Vienna. In 1808, he went to Galicia as a private music teacher. In 1813, he settled in Lemberg, the “capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria”. F. X. Mozart was very active there as a concert pianist, a teacher and an organiser of the musical life, initially promoting the legacy of his brilliant father. In Lviv, he taught the piano to Polish aristocratic families. He also maintained close contact with the Baroni von Cavalcabo family, especially with Josephine Baroni von Cavalcabo, who was appointed the executrix of his will after his death. In 1826, he founded in Lemberg the Cecilian Society for Austrian Music Lovers, which organised numerous church music concerts until 1829. In 1838, F. X. Mozart left Lemberg and moved to Vienna. He died in Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary) in 1844.

As a composer, F. X Mozart produced a rich oeuvre in which chamber, choral and piano works predominate. His piano pieces, variation cycles, sonatas for piano and violin, two piano concertos, chamber ensembles and the cantata “Der erste Frühlingstag” (The First Day of Spring) are particularly interesting.

In terms of style, Mozart’s work reflects the spirit of the times. As a concert pianist, he favoured the brilliant style standard in musical practice during the first third of the 19th century. His works, composed with considerable artistic taste and professional skill, reflect early Romantic aesthetic ideals. The Polish, Ukrainian and Russian song motifs often woven into the musical structure characterise many of his piano works as stylised folk melodies. This reflects the composer’s deep connection with the musical tradition of the region where he lived for thirty years.

The two piano concertos rank among F. X. Mozart’s most outstanding artistic achievements.

His first piano concerto in C major, op. 14, was written in 1808 when the composer was only seventeen. Youthful ardour and enthusiasm are combined here with a good knowledge of the classical standards of composition, which Franz Xaver acquired under the guidance of his experienced teachers. This is particularly noticeable in the rendition of the orchestral part, for which the composer used the full symphony orchestra without clarinets. The concerto comprises three movements.