Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
(Austrian; 1756-1791)

Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491
I. Allegro
II. Larghetto
III. Allegretto

Composed 1786; Duration 30 minutes

When Mozart moved from Salzburg to Vienna in 1781, he quickly established himself as the city’s foremost piano virtuoso. Business-savvy, he began producing three or four annual subscription concerts during which he conducted the orchestra from the piano bench, premiering his new concertos. The series was a financial boon that afforded his young family a lavish lifestyle for several years, until revenues waned. This is sometimes attributed to fickle audiences bored with the novelty, but the outbreak of the Austro-Turkish War distracted his wealthy and noble patrons and ultimately led to recession.

He would soon turn his attention to opera, but the period from 1783 to 1786 was enormously fruitful for Mozart’s contribution to the piano concerto genre, with a whopping fifteen works. Two of the later installments came in March 1786, with No. 23 in A major, K. 488, soon followed by No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, which premiered a few weeks later at Vienna’s Burgtheater. 

The concerto was composed around the same time as his comic opera The Marriage of Figaro, which premiered only a few short weeks after. As such, the Concerto’s uncommon minor key (only No. 20 in D minor is also in a minor key) gives it a dramatic seriousness that contrasts the levity of the new opera. This is evident in the jagged opening moments of the work, but a second theme provides a major-keyed contrast until the harrowing development section. Notable here is Mozart’s experimental use of clarinets and oboes to create moody colors throughout. The central Larghetto offers a simple, childlike reprieve from the stormy C minor.

The finale returns to the C minor theme presented by the orchestra, followed by eight brilliant variations led by the virtuosic pianist. Traversing contrasting keys, moods, orchestrations, and textures, this is some of Mozart’s most inspired concerto writing. Rather than the formulaic transformation to a triumphant major conclusion, the pianist, with scintillating virtuosity, leads the orchestra to a final C minor flourish. No doubt vexing to Mozart’s audience, the work offers a dramatic glimpse into his operatic world to come, and would come to be appreciated as an intellectual climax of his piano concerto output.

Chaz Stuart, 2026