Adventures with Mozart

For the G minor Piano Quartet, K. 478, Bezuidenhout was joined by members of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra — violinist Petra Müllejans, violist Gottfried von der Goltz, and cellist Kristen von der Goltz. Period instruments and practice changed not only the sound, in the familiar early-music way — more transparent, more taut — but the ensemble’s constitution. Echoes of the Baroque tradition of a continuo group were prominent, string entrances highlighting the piano’s ideas by subtly or suddenly deepening the foundation. In turn, the piano could take string ideas and give them decorative etching — a back-and-forth particularly prominent in the Rondo finale of K. 478. And with the strings using vibrato as a sparing garnish, one could hear how the piano’s ornamentation was not only a virtuosic touch, but an analogical translation of the strings’ effect.

The G minor Quartet was part of a multi-work commission, but proved so challenging that the publisher backed out. Mozart nevertheless wrote another Quartet, the E-flat major, K. 493. If the G minor is nearly operatic in its drama — from its portentous opening to its final pages’ twist-ending deceptive cadence — the E-flat sparkles, as if Mozart was unwilling to abandon the genre until he had exhausted its conversational possibilities.

The group’s encore returned to slow-movement soul with the Andante cantabile from Beethoven’s op. 16 Quintet for piano and winds, arranged by the composer for piano quartet, a muted rush of shadows. In the concert’s context, it sounded like a portrait of Mozart, against a backdrop of darkening skies.

Matthew Guerrieri can be reached at matthewguerrieri@gmail.com.