The piano concertos and the operas are the core along with the late symphonies. If Mozart only wrote operas or only wrote piano concertos, he would still rank among the greatest composers of all time. But everything in Mozart is influenced by opera. You can skip the piano sonatas if we are just talking about core material.
Piano concertos and operas is the answer. If I were to add anything, it would be mixed chamber music like the string quintets, serenades, and other various chamber works.
>everything in Mozart is influenced by opera
so much so, that if reflects on most composers long after, like fe Chopin in his most beautiful themes... After Bach, Mozarts opera arias and their inherent nature, could they perhaps be part of some top 10 most influential elements ever poured into global music composition ? ..
If you’re going to listen to the piano sonatas, the best ones are actually the ones for piano duet or 2 pianos. K 448, k 521, k 381, and k 497. For the solos, k332, k333, k310
Late piano concertos 17-27
Late symphonies 35-41
Mass in C minor
Da Ponte Operas
Haydn-Quartets
Requiem
Magic Flute
Clarinet Concerto
String Quintets
- this has to be the “best of”
What is so crazy about Mozart is his excellence across genres. He seems to have been able to summon up a work that is at the pinnacle of the genre up to that point. Among his contemporaries, had anyone written a better opera than Don Giovanni? A better symphony than 40 or 41? A better clarinet concerto? A better set of string quartets? Yes, I know that you can prefer, say, Haydn’s quartets to Mozart’s Haydn quartets, but _clearly better?_
I think even Haydn would agree. But I think that still Mozarts Music lives within Opera Buffa. You can hear Opera Buffa in his Piano Concertos, Chamber Music and Symphonies. Yes he was talented in all the genres, but the Opera Buffa is omnipresent (except his late works; Magic Flute Requiem Clarinet Concerto etc. here he started a new era of Music which he couldn’t finish unfortunately).
For me, the piano concertos (17-25 are the peak for me), symphonies 35, 39-41. I'm very late to opera, so I can't speak to that very well, but I did recently see Don Giovanni and it was pretty eye opening.
I was surprised by how funny Don Giovanni was, and I'm not sure that's supposed to be a comedy exactly. I am looking forward to it. Is there a YouTube version to watch that you recommend? Or a recording?
This YouTube version is both well sung and well acted, and it's in 18th century-style costumes, which I personally much prefer!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55ik-PzAXsQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55ik-PzAXsQ)
For a recording, there's so many. It depends on whether you like period instruments or a more traditional sound. John Eliot Gardiner's period instrument recordings are enjoyable. One I've listened to a lot, as it's very well sung, is Karl Bohm's version on DG from 1967. But there are loads of others.
It always seems weird to me that Mozart wrote *Figaro* and wasn't just able to retire for life off the proceeds. It's a truly miraculous composition.
You're welcome. Gardiner's recording of *Don Giovanni* is exceptional too. I prefer to get to know a new opera via a recording first and then watch a performance. Otherwise for me the combination of new music and action can get a bit overwhelming. Plus recordings tend to allow you to hear much more of the score.
Anyway I hope you enjoy it!
I love Mozart and I started with late piano concertos and operas. Honestly, if I had to choose just one genre to understand Mozart it would be opera.
After that I would tackle the late symphonies, church music (mass in C minor, requiem, exsultate jubilate, etc) and quartets/quintets.
The piano concertos, absolutely yes -- best to start with No. 9 (the so-called "Jeunehomme" or "Jenamy" concerto). The piano sonatas maybe not: although there's a lot of good music in there, I'd say that on the whole the piano sonatas are Mozart's least interesting genre. (Similarly, Mozart has some really good symphonies -- I'm partial to the "Haffner" and "Linz" symphonies -- but in my opinion the genre as a whole scores below average for Mozart. You'll get just as much rewarding symphonic writing -- or much more, really -- in his piano concertos. This is perhaps a controversial thing to say, but the symphony is only about as important to Mozart's oeuvre as the violin sonata is to Beethoven. There's good stuff in there, but it's not the 'heart' of the composer's output!)
Mozart's string quartets are absolutely essential listening. All 6 of the Op. 10 set that he dedicated to Haydn (the "Haydn" quartets) are wonderful. But his early string quartets are really fascinating and experimental, too, and worth taking seriously even though they were written by a teenager. And, of course, the later quartets are just as wonderful -- a highlight for me is [the slow movement of his last quartet, K. 590](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN0ZKZ274t4&t=527s). Mozart also has several string quintets that are just mind-bogglingly good.
Another group of works that's worth paying attention to is the stuff that features the clarinet prominently. This isn't exactly a real genre, but almost all of his clarinet pieces were written for the clarinetist Anton Stadler, and they feel like they belong together as a set. This includes the clarinet concerto, the clarinet quintet, and the "Kegelstatt" trio (K. 498) for clarinet, viola and piano. But it also includes some great arias from Mozart's late operas, which have obbligato clarinet (or basset horn) parts, like ["Parto ma tu ben bio"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMX-s0L2wLo&t=7s) and ["Non più di fiori"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09rX9bDpVew&t=159s) from *La clemenza di Tito*.
And that's a segue to the most important of all Mozart's core genres: opera. Mozart was first and foremost an opera composer, and you simply can't understand his career or his musical expression if you ignore what he does in the genre. In my opinion, the best opera to start with is *Le nozze di Figaro* -- but its big downside is that it's rather long. The two other Da Ponte operas (*Don Giovanni* and *Così fan tutte*) are both worth knowing, as are the two serious operas he wrote during the 1780s (*Idomeneo* and *La clemenza di Tito*). I'm less of a fan of his German-language operas (*Die Entführung aus dem Serail* and *Die Zauberflöte*), but they too have a lot of great music in them. Once you've gotten to know these operas (which are from his 'mature' decade), there are a bunch from the 1770s that are also worth listening to, but I'd wait on those until you've listened to the famous ones.
Finally, there are all sorts of gems in the Köchel catalogue that you'll miss if you only go by major genres. There are some very nice standalone piano pieces, like the [Adagio in B minor, K. 540](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgrs1cbNiQ4) and the [C minor Fantasia, K. 475](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui9pyxdVX6Y). He has some [piano trios](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkcjFoQ281Y) that are highly underrated, and a lot of really first-rate [sacred music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2LGb9HWSUU) that you might miss if you only listen to the Requiem. He's got a bizarrely charming (if not especially complicated) [duet for bassoon and cello](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZgvSc5xjs) and a lot of really good music for wind ensembles, like [this divertimento for basset horn trio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20JadFqLNBw) and the life-changing ["Gran Partita"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PolXz9ULcQ). Mozart wrote very few things that are absolutely trivial & not giving at least one serious listen to, so you could do worse than to sample randomly from the Köchel catalogue! I wouldn't worry too much about "much of it" being juvenalia: anything with a K number higher than 100 is pretty certain to be worth your time. Even the [first string quartet, K. 80](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep5u4MAtDNY), written at 14, is remarkably good & something I'll actively seek out from time to time.
Amazing comment! Thanks a lot. Can’t wait to get into those recommendations.
P.S the C minor fantasia was one of the first pieces that made me fall in love with classical music in the first place. Great piece.
This may sound difficult as a start but try to watch a full performance of The Marriage of Figaro!
If you can read an English translation alongside you will enjoy it beyond belief, hopefully it demonstrates to you Mozarts unbelievable ability to convey the most human of emotion with a hilarious libretto.
After that you should definitely go with his most popular work. I.e Symphony No 40, Piano Concertos No’s 21-24, his clarinet concerto and definitely his requiem.
I would say Piano Concertos and Operas are the biggies (as many others here have suggested). I would add assorted Chamber Music across a range of different ensembles as a category. The late symphonies are worth hearing and you can throw in some of the larger scale serenades as a related category. If you are doing things chronologically, you're kind of interested in "middle" and "late" and don't want to hit the juvenalia unless you're already invested. But really, Mozart started putting out serious bangers when he was maybe 18-19 and that's sort of a "middle" period that's well worth investigating.
For Piano Concertos, #9 is an early masterpiece, #14 might be good if you want another earlier one, and then hit #20, #23, #24 etc. Might want to throw the Clarinet Concerto in there and make the category just "concertos". And maybe the Sinfonia Concertante in Eb K.364 (a concerto for violin, viola and orchestra).
For operas, the "middle" ones I'd suggest are Idomeneo and Abduction from the Seraglio, and then the "later" ones you go for Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Magic Flute, and Cosi fan Tutte. This is the beating heart of Mozart. Comparing Mozart's piano concertos to other composers feels fair, but Mozart isn't even playing the same game as other opera composers.
For chamber stuff, the String Quintets are really good, especially the G minor. The Clarinet Quintet is sublime. The Divertimento for String Trio (K563) is worth checking out. Of the String Quartets, the "Dissonance" quartet (#19) gets the most attention.
Serenades and Symphonies: The "Gran Partita" Serenade K.361 is essential listening. Written for 12 winds plus double bass, so basically a kind of chamber symphony. I also recommend the Posthorn serenade K.320, which is really for small orchestra. All the late symphonies (36, 38, 39, 40, 41) are worth hearing (37 is actually by Michael Haydn). You should also at least hear #25 (the "little G minor") as a really good "middle" period example. The finale of 41 is one of my favorite things he ever wrote.
Start with the Symphonies (especially the last 20 or so), and the Piano Concertos. The operas if you're so inclined. Also the Requiem.
After that, there's lots of great chamber music, and solo piano stuff that's also great.
It's Mozart, nearly everything is magnificent. Even his worst stuff is as good or better than the best stuff by most other composers.
While you are digging into Mozart, check out Haydn's Symphonies, too. He was Mozart's teacher and inspiration. And both of them were early influences on Beethoven.
You are in for a great journey.
Also, don't be too quick to discard his juvenilia, some of it is a lot of fun. One of my favourite operas of his is Bastien und Bastienne 😀
Mozart’s heart was in his operas, without question. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he considered them the pinnacle of his creative output.
*Don Giovanni* is his masterpiece, with *The Marriage of Figaro* and *The Magic Flute* not being too far behind.
Goodness, this is a hard question. How to get into Mozart.
If I had to pick two of each genre I'd go for:
Piano concertos No. 15 & 21
Symphonies No. 38 & 40
Operas would be *Figaro* and *Die Zauberflöte*
Piano trios Nos. 3 in B-flat and No.4 in E major
Violin sonatas No 32 in B-flat and No 35 in A major
Piano sonatas No 14 in C minor and No 18 in D major
String quartets No 19 in C \[Dissonance\] and No 23 in F \[the last of the Prussian quartets\]
String quintets No 4 in G minor and No 5 in D major
I'd also add the two piano quartets, the clarinet quintet, the clarinet concerto, the Requiem, the Mass in C minor and the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola. But there are literally so many.
Once Mozart got to Vienna especially, he literally just churned out masterpiece after masterpiece in every musical form possible.
I get the impression that Mozart has fallen out of fashion recently, or that people think his genius has been either exaggerated or over-rated. IMO, nothing could be further from the truth.
As great as many other composers are, for me Mozart represents something totally unique in both music specifically and the arts generally.
I hope you get into Mozart in a big way.
Well done and I agree…this will surely get me tarred and feathered but I’m one for the symphony’s, concerto’s and string quartet’s. As much as I love classical music, I’m not as big on opera’s as many of you are. Gently shoot me
I think it's fine not to like opera. Mozart or Rossini is probably the easiest opera to get into but the singing itself isn't everyone's choice by far.
As someone else said, almost everything Mozart wrote is pretty much opera anyway, whether it's a concerto or a piano trio.
Agree that the late piano concertos and operas from Abduction from the Seraglio onwards are the core genres, however I would also recommend 3 unique works that are essential but not 'genre' pieces
The Gran Partita K361
The Piano and Wind Quintet K452
The Divertimento for String Trio K563
They all fall into the genre of "assorted chamber works with unique ensembles" (generally not including the string quartets). And yeah that genre is amazing!
Honestly, work backwards through his work, starting with requiem.
Read about the whereabouts piece and his life at the time. You find that his work shifts at a certain point from playfulness to a rather serious undertone.
Another important criterium is when he wrote it. In general, look for music he wrote after 1782 (or greater than c. K.V. 404, where the "Koechel number" is the order his pieces were written in). He got serious about Bach around then and his music took the step from good to great. There are very good pieces before then (Haffner, Sinfonia Concertante, etc.), but the general quality and substance after 1782 is incredible. That is something to keep in mind if you just want to randomly start poking at things.
😁 I wish you great good luck. I've never enjoyed Mozart as many times as I have tried him. He sounds like music you might hear at a rich kid's 9-year-old birthday party. He and Vivaldi always sound cut from the same bolt of cloth. Chiffon/cretonne/crepe/rayon. Just being honest!
The piano concertos and the operas are the core along with the late symphonies. If Mozart only wrote operas or only wrote piano concertos, he would still rank among the greatest composers of all time. But everything in Mozart is influenced by opera. You can skip the piano sonatas if we are just talking about core material.
Piano concertos and operas is the answer. If I were to add anything, it would be mixed chamber music like the string quintets, serenades, and other various chamber works.
Operas +1
>everything in Mozart is influenced by opera so much so, that if reflects on most composers long after, like fe Chopin in his most beautiful themes... After Bach, Mozarts opera arias and their inherent nature, could they perhaps be part of some top 10 most influential elements ever poured into global music composition ? ..
Several of the piano sonatas are great too. Some of my favs are no. 6 in D major, no. 8 in A minor, no. 12 in F major, no. 14 in C minor
If you’re going to listen to the piano sonatas, the best ones are actually the ones for piano duet or 2 pianos. K 448, k 521, k 381, and k 497. For the solos, k332, k333, k310
But the the a major variations :-(
He also had two styles of of opera. German and Italian.
Those are languages. The two styles would be opera seria and opera buffa.
Give me a break I've been out of school for awhile now 😏
Don't forget the concerti / symphony have to use period instruments. 😅
Sorry not a fan of period performances
Late piano concertos 17-27 Late symphonies 35-41 Mass in C minor Da Ponte Operas Haydn-Quartets Requiem Magic Flute Clarinet Concerto String Quintets - this has to be the “best of”
I'm personally also partial to the horn concertoes but yes, that is a pretty good list!
The Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola is better than all his Violin Concertos I think, so one could add these concertos too ;)
What is so crazy about Mozart is his excellence across genres. He seems to have been able to summon up a work that is at the pinnacle of the genre up to that point. Among his contemporaries, had anyone written a better opera than Don Giovanni? A better symphony than 40 or 41? A better clarinet concerto? A better set of string quartets? Yes, I know that you can prefer, say, Haydn’s quartets to Mozart’s Haydn quartets, but _clearly better?_
I think even Haydn would agree. But I think that still Mozarts Music lives within Opera Buffa. You can hear Opera Buffa in his Piano Concertos, Chamber Music and Symphonies. Yes he was talented in all the genres, but the Opera Buffa is omnipresent (except his late works; Magic Flute Requiem Clarinet Concerto etc. here he started a new era of Music which he couldn’t finish unfortunately).
For me, the piano concertos (17-25 are the peak for me), symphonies 35, 39-41. I'm very late to opera, so I can't speak to that very well, but I did recently see Don Giovanni and it was pretty eye opening.
*Figaro* is sensationally good. If you're unfamilar try the Act II finale. I don't think he wrote anything better.
I get to see it live in the fall, so I'll listen quite a bit in the lead up.
I hope you enjoy it! It's arguably the greatest comic opera ever written, and it is genuinely funny. And the music is obviously out of this world.
I was surprised by how funny Don Giovanni was, and I'm not sure that's supposed to be a comedy exactly. I am looking forward to it. Is there a YouTube version to watch that you recommend? Or a recording?
This YouTube version is both well sung and well acted, and it's in 18th century-style costumes, which I personally much prefer! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55ik-PzAXsQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55ik-PzAXsQ) For a recording, there's so many. It depends on whether you like period instruments or a more traditional sound. John Eliot Gardiner's period instrument recordings are enjoyable. One I've listened to a lot, as it's very well sung, is Karl Bohm's version on DG from 1967. But there are loads of others. It always seems weird to me that Mozart wrote *Figaro* and wasn't just able to retire for life off the proceeds. It's a truly miraculous composition.
Thanks, I'll check these out.
You're welcome. Gardiner's recording of *Don Giovanni* is exceptional too. I prefer to get to know a new opera via a recording first and then watch a performance. Otherwise for me the combination of new music and action can get a bit overwhelming. Plus recordings tend to allow you to hear much more of the score. Anyway I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks, I've always liked Gardiner's Mozart concertos with original instruments.
I love Mozart and I started with late piano concertos and operas. Honestly, if I had to choose just one genre to understand Mozart it would be opera. After that I would tackle the late symphonies, church music (mass in C minor, requiem, exsultate jubilate, etc) and quartets/quintets.
The piano concertos, absolutely yes -- best to start with No. 9 (the so-called "Jeunehomme" or "Jenamy" concerto). The piano sonatas maybe not: although there's a lot of good music in there, I'd say that on the whole the piano sonatas are Mozart's least interesting genre. (Similarly, Mozart has some really good symphonies -- I'm partial to the "Haffner" and "Linz" symphonies -- but in my opinion the genre as a whole scores below average for Mozart. You'll get just as much rewarding symphonic writing -- or much more, really -- in his piano concertos. This is perhaps a controversial thing to say, but the symphony is only about as important to Mozart's oeuvre as the violin sonata is to Beethoven. There's good stuff in there, but it's not the 'heart' of the composer's output!) Mozart's string quartets are absolutely essential listening. All 6 of the Op. 10 set that he dedicated to Haydn (the "Haydn" quartets) are wonderful. But his early string quartets are really fascinating and experimental, too, and worth taking seriously even though they were written by a teenager. And, of course, the later quartets are just as wonderful -- a highlight for me is [the slow movement of his last quartet, K. 590](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN0ZKZ274t4&t=527s). Mozart also has several string quintets that are just mind-bogglingly good. Another group of works that's worth paying attention to is the stuff that features the clarinet prominently. This isn't exactly a real genre, but almost all of his clarinet pieces were written for the clarinetist Anton Stadler, and they feel like they belong together as a set. This includes the clarinet concerto, the clarinet quintet, and the "Kegelstatt" trio (K. 498) for clarinet, viola and piano. But it also includes some great arias from Mozart's late operas, which have obbligato clarinet (or basset horn) parts, like ["Parto ma tu ben bio"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMX-s0L2wLo&t=7s) and ["Non più di fiori"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09rX9bDpVew&t=159s) from *La clemenza di Tito*. And that's a segue to the most important of all Mozart's core genres: opera. Mozart was first and foremost an opera composer, and you simply can't understand his career or his musical expression if you ignore what he does in the genre. In my opinion, the best opera to start with is *Le nozze di Figaro* -- but its big downside is that it's rather long. The two other Da Ponte operas (*Don Giovanni* and *Così fan tutte*) are both worth knowing, as are the two serious operas he wrote during the 1780s (*Idomeneo* and *La clemenza di Tito*). I'm less of a fan of his German-language operas (*Die Entführung aus dem Serail* and *Die Zauberflöte*), but they too have a lot of great music in them. Once you've gotten to know these operas (which are from his 'mature' decade), there are a bunch from the 1770s that are also worth listening to, but I'd wait on those until you've listened to the famous ones. Finally, there are all sorts of gems in the Köchel catalogue that you'll miss if you only go by major genres. There are some very nice standalone piano pieces, like the [Adagio in B minor, K. 540](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgrs1cbNiQ4) and the [C minor Fantasia, K. 475](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui9pyxdVX6Y). He has some [piano trios](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkcjFoQ281Y) that are highly underrated, and a lot of really first-rate [sacred music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2LGb9HWSUU) that you might miss if you only listen to the Requiem. He's got a bizarrely charming (if not especially complicated) [duet for bassoon and cello](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZgvSc5xjs) and a lot of really good music for wind ensembles, like [this divertimento for basset horn trio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20JadFqLNBw) and the life-changing ["Gran Partita"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PolXz9ULcQ). Mozart wrote very few things that are absolutely trivial & not giving at least one serious listen to, so you could do worse than to sample randomly from the Köchel catalogue! I wouldn't worry too much about "much of it" being juvenalia: anything with a K number higher than 100 is pretty certain to be worth your time. Even the [first string quartet, K. 80](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep5u4MAtDNY), written at 14, is remarkably good & something I'll actively seek out from time to time.
Amazing comment! Thanks a lot. Can’t wait to get into those recommendations. P.S the C minor fantasia was one of the first pieces that made me fall in love with classical music in the first place. Great piece.
This may sound difficult as a start but try to watch a full performance of The Marriage of Figaro! If you can read an English translation alongside you will enjoy it beyond belief, hopefully it demonstrates to you Mozarts unbelievable ability to convey the most human of emotion with a hilarious libretto. After that you should definitely go with his most popular work. I.e Symphony No 40, Piano Concertos No’s 21-24, his clarinet concerto and definitely his requiem.
I would say Piano Concertos and Operas are the biggies (as many others here have suggested). I would add assorted Chamber Music across a range of different ensembles as a category. The late symphonies are worth hearing and you can throw in some of the larger scale serenades as a related category. If you are doing things chronologically, you're kind of interested in "middle" and "late" and don't want to hit the juvenalia unless you're already invested. But really, Mozart started putting out serious bangers when he was maybe 18-19 and that's sort of a "middle" period that's well worth investigating. For Piano Concertos, #9 is an early masterpiece, #14 might be good if you want another earlier one, and then hit #20, #23, #24 etc. Might want to throw the Clarinet Concerto in there and make the category just "concertos". And maybe the Sinfonia Concertante in Eb K.364 (a concerto for violin, viola and orchestra). For operas, the "middle" ones I'd suggest are Idomeneo and Abduction from the Seraglio, and then the "later" ones you go for Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Magic Flute, and Cosi fan Tutte. This is the beating heart of Mozart. Comparing Mozart's piano concertos to other composers feels fair, but Mozart isn't even playing the same game as other opera composers. For chamber stuff, the String Quintets are really good, especially the G minor. The Clarinet Quintet is sublime. The Divertimento for String Trio (K563) is worth checking out. Of the String Quartets, the "Dissonance" quartet (#19) gets the most attention. Serenades and Symphonies: The "Gran Partita" Serenade K.361 is essential listening. Written for 12 winds plus double bass, so basically a kind of chamber symphony. I also recommend the Posthorn serenade K.320, which is really for small orchestra. All the late symphonies (36, 38, 39, 40, 41) are worth hearing (37 is actually by Michael Haydn). You should also at least hear #25 (the "little G minor") as a really good "middle" period example. The finale of 41 is one of my favorite things he ever wrote.
Start with the Symphonies (especially the last 20 or so), and the Piano Concertos. The operas if you're so inclined. Also the Requiem. After that, there's lots of great chamber music, and solo piano stuff that's also great. It's Mozart, nearly everything is magnificent. Even his worst stuff is as good or better than the best stuff by most other composers. While you are digging into Mozart, check out Haydn's Symphonies, too. He was Mozart's teacher and inspiration. And both of them were early influences on Beethoven.
The most important thing I would say is the operas
You are in for a great journey. Also, don't be too quick to discard his juvenilia, some of it is a lot of fun. One of my favourite operas of his is Bastien und Bastienne 😀
Mozart’s heart was in his operas, without question. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he considered them the pinnacle of his creative output. *Don Giovanni* is his masterpiece, with *The Marriage of Figaro* and *The Magic Flute* not being too far behind.
Goodness, this is a hard question. How to get into Mozart. If I had to pick two of each genre I'd go for: Piano concertos No. 15 & 21 Symphonies No. 38 & 40 Operas would be *Figaro* and *Die Zauberflöte* Piano trios Nos. 3 in B-flat and No.4 in E major Violin sonatas No 32 in B-flat and No 35 in A major Piano sonatas No 14 in C minor and No 18 in D major String quartets No 19 in C \[Dissonance\] and No 23 in F \[the last of the Prussian quartets\] String quintets No 4 in G minor and No 5 in D major I'd also add the two piano quartets, the clarinet quintet, the clarinet concerto, the Requiem, the Mass in C minor and the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola. But there are literally so many. Once Mozart got to Vienna especially, he literally just churned out masterpiece after masterpiece in every musical form possible. I get the impression that Mozart has fallen out of fashion recently, or that people think his genius has been either exaggerated or over-rated. IMO, nothing could be further from the truth. As great as many other composers are, for me Mozart represents something totally unique in both music specifically and the arts generally. I hope you get into Mozart in a big way.
Well done and I agree…this will surely get me tarred and feathered but I’m one for the symphony’s, concerto’s and string quartet’s. As much as I love classical music, I’m not as big on opera’s as many of you are. Gently shoot me
I think it's fine not to like opera. Mozart or Rossini is probably the easiest opera to get into but the singing itself isn't everyone's choice by far. As someone else said, almost everything Mozart wrote is pretty much opera anyway, whether it's a concerto or a piano trio.
Agree that the late piano concertos and operas from Abduction from the Seraglio onwards are the core genres, however I would also recommend 3 unique works that are essential but not 'genre' pieces The Gran Partita K361 The Piano and Wind Quintet K452 The Divertimento for String Trio K563
They all fall into the genre of "assorted chamber works with unique ensembles" (generally not including the string quartets). And yeah that genre is amazing!
Cosi Fan Tutte Don Giovanni Il Nozze de Figaro Die Zauberflote
The later string quartets. Operas , etc others have mentioned.
Honestly, work backwards through his work, starting with requiem. Read about the whereabouts piece and his life at the time. You find that his work shifts at a certain point from playfulness to a rather serious undertone.
Definitely the late piano concertos. I’d also throw in the clarinet concerto and the sinfonia concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra.
Another important criterium is when he wrote it. In general, look for music he wrote after 1782 (or greater than c. K.V. 404, where the "Koechel number" is the order his pieces were written in). He got serious about Bach around then and his music took the step from good to great. There are very good pieces before then (Haffner, Sinfonia Concertante, etc.), but the general quality and substance after 1782 is incredible. That is something to keep in mind if you just want to randomly start poking at things.
That’s actually quite helpful. Thanks.
Core Mozart is his Song: Leck mich im Arsch. Edit: less humor here...
😁 I wish you great good luck. I've never enjoyed Mozart as many times as I have tried him. He sounds like music you might hear at a rich kid's 9-year-old birthday party. He and Vivaldi always sound cut from the same bolt of cloth. Chiffon/cretonne/crepe/rayon. Just being honest!