Analogies and differences in the two beautiful Concertos for Violin and Orchestra by some of the most original composers of their time: Mozart and Viotti. Performed by Maestro Uto Ughi and the Chamber Orchestra of Santa Cecilia.

Excerpts from the original CD booklet:

Music has often displayed marked independence in relation to its own time - it has frequently given rise to its own history which has then become general history. Its universal language has on the one hand helped to broaden the world but at the same time it has foreshadowed future developments and brought people closer together. The "creators" of music, its "players", and its "virtuosos" have all been the bearers of a new way of thinking, a new way of being, and a new way of feeling, and in moving from place to place have played a vital role in processes of unification. One thinks of Viotti who left his own city in Vercelli to move to Paris and then to London; or of Mozart and Brahms who as young men engaged in very long and adventurous journeys which took them to every corner of Eurospe. Unconsciously, they had already created a united Eurospe through their music, and people had already accepted that Eurospe when communicating their music from mouth to mouth.

Viotti: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor n. 22
Viotti's production as a composer was closely linked to his experience as a violinist, and therefore largely centred around the use of this instrument. He was able to bring out all its technical and expressive capacities. Viotti's output was vast and included twenty-nine concertos for violin and orchestra, two concert symphonies, an infinity of duets, trios and quartets, and works for the pianoforte. The concertos which he composed when he was in Paris greatly interested Rode and Kreutzer, influenced Beethoven, inspired Mozart, and certainly left their mark on traditions of violin music in Germany.
The very famous "Concerto in A minor n. 22" won the later praise of Brahms who emphasised and appreciated its freedom of imaginative invention in a letter (June 1878) written to Clara Schumann. This work was composed between 1785 and 1789 and was probably performed for the first time in London during a series of concertos organised by the impressario Johann Peter Salomon which were held at Hanover Square. This date may correspond to that of Viotti's actual debut (London, 7 February).
The first movement (moderato) begins with a graceful theme which gives way to, and prepares the way for, the entrance of the soloist. This takes place after a cadence which shifts the concerto into the major key. The second movement in E major (adagio) is of great expressive intensity and is largely dominated by the soloist. The third movement (agitato assai) begins in a rather dramatic way and leads on to a development where Viotti's inventiveness is displayed to the full. The part of the solo violin is very difficult in its execution and requires great technical ability and a capacity for agility and velocity - those qualities which we identify with the "virtuoso".

Mozart: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D KV.271a
It is rather difficult to talk about the output of Mozart - there is so much of it that one runs the risk of omitting something which is important. His last four or five years of life were enough to fill the life of any human being. These were years of isolation and poverty and his only consolation was the help of a few faithful friends. This was a period which witnessed rare moments of success and fragile hopes which were soon wiped out by seering disappointments. However, during these last few years of Mozart's life his art reached the highest level of perfection - "Don Giovanni", "Jupiter", "Cosi fan Tutte", "Flauto Magico", "La Clemenza di Tito", and "Requiem", to list only a few.
Moving from one home to another, these were years crowded with many events of alternating fortune: the death of his son Johann Thomas Leopold, the success of "Figaro" in Prague, the death of his father which was followed shortly afterwards by that of his daughter Theresia, his serious economic difficulties, the concert for Frederick William II, the birth, and then death after only an hour, of the much waited for Anna Maria, the vain search for pupils whose fees could have reduced his debts, the blow of being rejected at the time of the celebrations for the coronation of the Emperor Leopold II, the dinner of farewell given to Haydn on his departure for London...
Mozart probably wrote the "Concerto in D minor K27/a" in 1777, another year of troubles and upheavals for the composer. This was the year of the break with Archbishop Colloredo under whom he had produced much unexceptional music which, fortunately enough, was interrupted by the occasional masterpiece. The original manuscript of this concerto has been lost. It is said that it was once owned by Francois Antonine Habeneck, the conductor of a Parisian orchestra and a famous composer and violinist who was also famous for his Stradivarius violin "Habeneck". In a letter of 1837 Habeneck states that on the original score was written: "Concerto for violin by W. A. Mozart, 16 July 1777". Other sources refer to the existence of two other old copies, of reworkings (whose full authenticity is not proven) of the solo parts made by violinists of the French school, and so forth. However, the concerto itself has been handed down to us and it is elegant and brilliant. Need further comments be made? We have before us Mozart. The concerto is performed and conducted by Uto Ughi. We need only listen.