LF 26: Jeremy Denk Plays Mozart Piano Concertos II

St Mary’s Kirk, Haddington, 10/9/2026

Royal Northern Sinfonia; Jeremy Denk (piano/director); Maria Włoszczowska (director)

In the second of three concerts at this year’s Lammermuir Festival, Jeremy Denk [Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto with the RSNO debut in the 2022 Festival] directed the Gateshead-based Royal Northern Sinfonia from the keyboard in two more Mozart Piano Concertos, No 17 in G major and No 20 in D minor, both dating from 1784-85, a period of explosive creativity for the composer.  Between them, violinist Maria Wloszczowska [violin in the Brahms’ Double with Laura van der Heijden last year and a fabulous Beethoven Violin Concerto with the same orchestra in 2023] directed Stravinsky’s brilliant neo-classical Concerto in D for strings from the leader’s “desk-sans-desk”.  Apart from the cellos, the players stood and were intervisible. This seemed to enable the freedom for the body language of chamber playing, audibly echoed in the phrasing and collective dynamic balance, exploiting too the live acoustic of Haddington’s St Mary’s Kirk.  The piano lid was removed and Mr Denk sat facing the orchestra with his back to the audience, further enhancing the chamber ambience.  Attendance was very satisfactory.

For many (and I include myself) Mozart’s 27 piano concertos (or at least the 21 of them that are original compositions for single keyboard and orchestra) represent a supreme achievement of western classical music.  As the Allegro got under way, I was instantly reminded of why.  The G major is intimate, graceful and perfectly balances light and shade.  Under a cloak of simplicity, the first movement  has 4 principal themes, mostly sunny but the fourth suffused with a sense of aching longing.  With Mozart, phrasing is everything and Jeremy Denk’s phrasing was limpid and deceptively subtle, concealing the mechanics of performance and suppressing the ego of the performer, even in the cadenza, thereby captivating heart and mind in equal measure.  Conversation between soloist and winds was exquisite, all the more vivid because they were facing each other.  The Andante, a languid, pastoral idyll with the occasional melancholic cloud shadow, was no less delicious, with more sweet soloist-winds conversation.  If asked whether I prefer rondo or theme-and-variations Mozart finales, I invariably plump for rondo, before remembering the goodies that exist in the other genre.  The Allegretto finale of the G-major is a case in point, a delight and a gem.  There is a poignant reminder of the slow movement’s cloud shadows in one minor-key variation.  The Presto final variation is a romp, a mock cross-country hunt complete with horn fanfares.  Delightful.

The 3-movement Stravinsky piece is one of his quirky whimsical works that charms with hints and sketches rather than explicit structure, yet (and I know this is subjective and not universal) manages to be very satisfying.  The episodic first movement lopes at first with a spring in its step, then dreamily teases with tropes that could be a waltz.  Another section moves in fits and starts.  From these elements (and the gaps and spaces that are as much a part of the whole) the illusion of a classical overture is fashioned,  Slowly rhapsodic, lilting and limping, the Andantino seems to sing a narrative that reminds me of the slow movement of the Symphony in 3 Movements, occasionally punctuated by simple two-chord Baroque cadences for no obvious reason.  The brisk Rondo has a pulse that drives forward unrelentingly, with slower-moving material pasted on top like a collage.  Not, perhaps, a belly-laugh, but I find its gentle humour very appealing.  Maria Wloszczowska’s balletic body movements guided a chamber ensemble reading, her ponytail swinging as she played.  Excellent.

Mozart’s D-minor Piano Concerto has a special place in my heart.  For one thing, it’s the only piano concerto in which I have played the cello part, specifically in the first public concert given by the newly-formed amateur Festival Orchestra of Abu Dhabi in mid-April 1993, with Canadian pianist Tricia Edwards as soloist.  Later that month, the Vienna Sinfonietta visited the city to give a concert in the Cultural Foundation, and FOAD was invited to join them for some Strauss numbers and a reprise of the Mozart D-minor Concerto with our soloist.  So, I have played in the front desk of the cellos of the Vienna Sinfonietta.  True story – I have video evidence.  It is the cellos that drive the spooky opening with demonic rising figures under syncopated scrubbing from the other strings and Jeremy Denk shaped a melodramatic reading as the grim stormy orchestral introduction unfolded.  His entry exemplified that subtle hesitation in phrasing which I feel is the secret to perfect Mozart, sustaining the magic with gentle rallentandi at the transitions.  The movement unfolded as the perfect mix of muscular tutti and chamber dialogue.  Mozart lightens the mood with passages in the major key but always returning to the turmoil.  These were beautifully pointed.  I didn’t recognise the cadenza (possibly the Hummel?) but it was stylishly delivered.  The cellos returned the music to the Stygian gloom from which it arose.  Magical.  The Romanze, a gentle B-flat major rondo serenade with two contrasting episodes, featured the same lovely phrasing in an elegant andante tempo.  The second episode, in the relative G minor, was as turbulent and dramatic as you like, making the final transition back to the major and the tenderness of the closing bars all the more delicious.  Back to turbulent D-minor for most of the finale, though the major episode that will form the coda makes an early cheery appearance.  Another fine cadenza (possibly Beethoven?).  I can vouch for this concerto as a joy to play and there was undoubtedly a special chemistry between Jeremy and the RNS.  A joy too for the enthusiastic audience.  Scrumptious.

Weblink:  https://www.lammermuirfestival.co.uk/event/jeremy-denk-plays-mozart-piano-concertos-ii/