Mozart: The Piano Concertos (Black Dog Music Library) - Hardcover

This line of books--with compact discs tucked into the covers--from the Black Dog Music Library and EMI Classical offer a great concept for the neophyte classical music lover, or for anyone who wants to know a little more than CD liner notes typically offer about a piece of music. In this case, the music consists of a pair of piano concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, and No. 21 in C, K. 467, commonly known these days by the name of a movie in which it was featured, Elvira Madigan. The soloist in both concertos is the late Hungarian pianist Annie Fischer; in the first, Sir Adrian Boult conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra; in the second, Wolfgang Sawallisch holds the baton. Although they date from 1959 and 1960, respectively, these are very worthwhile performances, remastered for compact disc. The book includes an essay by David Foil on Mozart's life (not entirely accurate; he repeats the myth that Mozart never made any money, when in fact Mozart made plenty of money but spent it just as fast as he got it), a note on Mozart's instruments, one on the concerto form and an explanation of just what those K. numbers mean. Finally, there is a blow-by-blow examination of what's going on in the concertos themselves. Budget priced, these can be useful tools for learning more about music. --Sarah Bryan Miller

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was a prolific and influential composer. Since its first performance in 1791, The Magic Flute has been a crowd pleasing opera and it remains one of the most celebrated in its genre.