Piano Concerto No. 26 in D Major

Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of Mozart’s creative genius during the last half-decade of his life is that with each successive year his expressive range became still more profound. The infinite variety of Mozart’s 27 piano concertos also continued to amaze. In 1786 alone, he offset the seamless, radiant poetry of No. 23 in A major, K. 488, with No. 24 in C minor, K. 491’s searingly dramatic intensity and the festive high spirits of No. 25 in C major, K. 503. The subsequent Piano Concerto No. 26 in D major, K. 537 (1788) is celebrated for the sparkling bonhomie of its opening “Allegro”, the gentle melodic enchantment of the central “Larghetto” and the rondo finale’s soloistic exuberance. Little wonder it became the most popular of Mozart’s concertos during the Romantic virtuoso frenzy of the 19th century. The nickname “Coronation” is not Mozart’s, and only came about because of a celebrated performance he gave in Frankfurt as part of the celebrations for the coronation of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor the year after the work’s Dresden premiere. Mozart’s professional life was as hectic as ever during this period—not only did he not have time to write out the cadenzas, but he also left most of the left-hand part blank, omitted some of the detail on the right hand and neglected to provide tempo indications for the second and third movements, leaving the Concerto’s first publisher, Johann Anton André, to fill in all the blanks.