Mozart on Tour - Episode 10: Prague

Mozart on Tour - Episode 10: Prague

The 13-part Mozart on Tour series chronicles the journey of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart across Europe. In 1786, Mozart was invited to Prague to conduct his Le nozze di Figaro, an opera more controversial than successful at its Viennese premiere earlier that year. The composition took the Czech capital completely by storm and resulted in the commission of a new opera, Don Giovanni. In this episode, Hungarian pianist Zoltán Kocsis joins Czech conductor Jiri Belohlávek and the Prague Chamber Orchestra at the great hall of Wallenstein palace in Prague for a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, KV 488. Everything about this piano concert is operatic in approach and execution, from the grand drama of the opening bars to the sublime vocal lyricism of the central movement, and to the soaring melody of the finale.