W. A. Mozart / M. E. Righi Horn Concerto N1 (2,3 parts)

W. A. Mozart / M. E. Righi Horn Concerto N1 (2,3 parts)

Kirill Miron (Horn)
Vladimir Ivanov (Piano)

PREFACE
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s concerto K412 is uni- versally recognized as one of the cornerstones of horn re- pertoire.
Although the concerto is often listed in concert pro- grams as “No. 1,” most likely the date of composition dates back to the last year of Mozart’s life (1791), making it in fact his last work for horn and orchestra.
Only a few fragments remain of the manuscript, left unfinished by Mozart, and completed by his favorite pupil, Franz-Xaver Süssmayr. While in the first movement (Allegro) Süssmayr’s interpolations concern only the or- chestral fillings of the woodwinds, in the rondo they are much more
pronounced, de facto constituting a reworking that devia- tes greatly from the original.
This edition aims to return to the performer a com- plete version of the concerto, preserving the first movement from the original manuscripts, adding an andante written in the style and playable on the natural horn, and recon- structing the original version of the rondo.
Marco Elia Righi
All of us hornists should feel indebted to Ignaz Leutgeb, amateur horn player, friend of the Mozart family and financial backer of the divine Amadeus, who compo- sed most of the production dedicated to our instrument for him. It should be noted that the Horn is the wind instru- ment for which the Salzburg genius wrote more than for any other.
Unfortunately, of the four splendid concertos that have arrived to us, only one piece is missing, namely the central movement of the first, No. 1 K412, an absolute jewel in its simplicity, and it would be everyone’s dream if one day a Mozart manuscript completing this composition were to be found.
Hoping that the miracle will happen sooner or la- ter, I have in the meantime had the good fortune to be able to play this reconstruction by Marco Elia Righi, a work that I found fun to perform and very pleasant to listen to. It is the work of a hornist, you can tell by playing it, the alternation of colors required of the performer in fact re- veals a profound knowledge of the tonal characteristics of the Horn, the same ones that besides Mozart later inspired Beethoven, Schumann and Strauss among others.
Marco Elia favors the cantabile typical of the Clas- sical Horn, not seeking technicalities foreign to the Mozart style, thus making the piece playable for an audience that can include even the most advanced students, for which I thank him and believe I can do so on behalf of all.

Guido Corti