Mozart Xaver

Barbara Bonney has discovered what she likens to "a new species or a new island in the Pacific": 27 songs by Mozart's youngest son, born five months before his father's death. Though she admits that their importance is mostly "musicological," she loves them–hence this recording. Franz Xavier Mozart, not surprisingly, had musical talent, but it was his mother's astute business sense and determination to cash in on her husband's fame that fuelled his career as pianist and composer; she even added "Wolfgang" to his name. Listening to these songs, one can hardly escape the conclusion that if the composer's name were not Mozart, nobody would have troubled to unearth or perform them…

“The Other Mozart” is Franz Xaver, son of Wolfgang Amadeus, who was born in the year of Wolfgang Amadeus’s death, 1791. Franz Xaver lived into the era of high romanticism and died in 1844. Franz Xaver’s lineage, some enthusiastic early reports from his teachers (not least Salieri!) and the influence of his mother, Mozart’s widow Constanze, ensured that Franz Xaver’s talents as a pianist and composer allowed him a career. He grew up and lived his last years in Vienna, but spent most of his adult life in and around Lvov (in present-day Ukraine). Constanze complained of his easy-going nature; whether this was the cause of his limited success is not known.

With this second recording of piano concertos - following the Variations in 2021 - I am extending my Franz Xaver Mozart project. Already at an early stage in my career as a pianist, I felt a special connection to the compositions of Franz Xaver Mozart. It was his 1st Piano Concerto that I performed during my first orchestral performance abroad at the age of 13, that took place in Switzerland, accompanied by the INSO Lviv Orchestra. His music stirred my soul and still inspires me today. After my studies, I became intensively absorbed in Franz Xavier Mozart’s work. In the process, I kept discovering new precious musical gems. His work in Galicia continues to invigorate the multicultural life of the region to this day. With the expansion of this Franz Xaver Mozart project, I hope his music will step out of his father’s shadow, the great master Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and be recognised accordingly. I am convinced that his legacy has not yet been fully explored, which motivates me to continue my research.

Wann haben Sie schon einmal in einem Konzert Musik von Leopold, Wolfgang Amadeus und Franz Xaver Mozart gehört? Besonders Werke von Franz Xaver – Wolfgang Amadeus’ jüngstem Sohn – sind nahezu in Vergessenheit geraten. Den diffusen Anforderungen, die sich mit dem idealisierten Bild seines Vaters verbanden, konnte er nicht gerecht werden, und mit zunehmendem Alter dürfte er immer mehr darunter gelitten haben, den gleichen Beruf wie sein Vater ergriffen zu haben. Spannend ist sein Klavierquartett in g-Moll op. 1, besonders in der Gegenüberstellung mit dem seines Vaters.

A musical homage on Franz Xaver Mozart’s 230th birthday.

This program of Franz Xaver Richter (1709-89) is another in Matthias Bamert’s series of Mozart Contemporaries. These little-known late-18th Century musicians deserve more recognition. The London Mozart Players are a crack ensemble who readily follow Bamert’s outstanding leadership. The Chandos sound is among the best, and the notes are superb. Three of these five works are premiere recordings, which makes this all the more attractive.

The browser noticing this disc might be forgiven for thinking that the current trend toward recording obscure works of the classical period had gone too far. Not only does it present a work by Franz Xaver Süssmayr, otherwise known almost exclusively as the man who completed Mozart's Requiem under sleazy circumstances after the composer's death – it also offers that work in an arrangement for winds by an even more obscure composer, Johann Nepomuk Wendt. But give it a spin (or a click): it's not without interest for those with a deep interest in Mozart, especially in the opera The Magic Flute. Süssmayr's opera Der Spiegel von Arkadien (The Mirror of Arcadia) was his biggest success during his own lifetime.