Improvising Mozart

Elvira Madigan

This afternoon at the symphony we heard pianist Gabriela Montero play the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21. It is also known as the Elvira Madigan, named for an obscure film that featured the andante from this beautiful work. Elvira Madigan was a real person who lived from 1867-1889. She was a Danish tightrope walker and trick rider, whose illicit affair and death at the hands of her lover were the subject of the 1967 Swedish film. From her photograph above, she looks like a real handful.

I love classical music, but I have a lot of insecurity because I never learned to play an instrument (I know... it's never too late, but the clock is ticking.) So the technicalities of scores and composing will aways be like another language.

"Improvising" on Mozart sounds like a sacrilege, but Mozart himself never performed a piece the same way twice. He wrote the basic framework in a hurry, then added the flourishes on top of his compositions when he performed them. Many, like the concerto we heard today, were scratched out the night before. So I've been thinking about improvisation all week and boring John with my questions, because Gabriela Montero is apparently famous for it. There was a gushy review in the local paper about her, including comments about her unconventional dress in the concert hall. Think tights, lace, and short black baby doll dress.

Needless to say, Seattle loved her! She did an encore improvisation on the opening of Beethoven's Fifth (da da da DUM) that brought the house down for a second time. We also had a Norwegian guest conductor, Arild Remmereit, an energetic young man who accidentally flung his baton into the front row during the Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony. Never mind that, we think he has his sights on Gerard Schwartz's Seattle conducting job, when he retires next year.