Cadenza for Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, K. 466

I wrote this cadenza in 2015, sometime after the Theme and Variations, Op. 2. I was playing Mozart's D minor piano concerto at the time, and promised that I would write a cadenza for it. This was not my first cadenza: I wrote one for Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 18 in B-flat major several years before.

Here's my performance on Youtube:

I hope you all enjoy it. 🙂

Theo

Mozart's 20th has to be one on my all time favourites and you done a nice job with it.  If I had to pick something that I personally felt worked less successfully, it would be that there were perhaps too many of the major key developments.  They give the cadenza a lightness that, for me, goes against the overall tone of the concerto.  None the less, I liked this cadenza, and again your playing lovely.

Regards

Mark

Very nice!  Few soloists nowadays write their own cadenzas, so this is very impressive. 

Thank you, @bkho! I really appreciate it!

All the best,

Theo 🙂

Well played. 

To be honest, I do not like the cadenza. But, that is my taste. 

I shall try to explain you why. 

The cadenza itself is good and there is a beautiful line of development in it. There is nothing wrong with the cadenza itself. 

It is the context. In other words, in my opinion your cadenza and Mozart's composition are two different worlds; two different planets. The cadenza is too romantic for me to sound logical in context with Mozart's music. Probably caused by many modulations. It simply does not have the 'simplicity' that Mozart's concerto has. 

There is a huge gap between the concerto and the cadenza in it. For me, the gap is too big. 

However, maybe you want to create two planets. Maybe you want a Mercury and a Venus. When that is the case, well done. You achieved this very well. 

Once again, I want to give you constructive feedback and help you further. There are, undoubtedly, many people who would like this cadenza, but for me it just does not sound correct. 

It is a feeling that is hard to describe. 

The piano playing is wonderful and the cadenza is fine too! Maybe try a cadenza by a late romantic composer. 🙂

Very nice playing, however I do agree with some of the other reviewers that this sounds too Romantic compared with the Mozart material which bookends the cadenza.
I would have enjoyed more Cantabile sections: let those beautiful Mozart themes sing as you write variations on them. Also, I was missing a more definite lull in proceedings before the return of the Orchestra to end.

That being said, very nice job and really good work recording the performance!