Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major K467

It is almost unbelievable for a classical piece to remain almost hidden and forgotten for the repertoire, and then become world-famous practically over-night, thanks to a motion picture, but this is exactly what happened to Mozart Piano Concerto in C major. Due to a movie that told the life story of Swedish trapeze-act star Elvira Madigan, honored by being ornamented by this music, the concerto became so popular that almost every record released after that film mentions "Elvira Madigan" as part of the concerto's title. This is how fame works.

This concerto is one of the best C major concertos by Mozart, and indeed he wrote quite a few. It starts with optimism conflicting with the composer's previous concerto, written earlier the same year, in amusing and light sounds. The contrast is so astonishing between the two concertos, composed only one month apart. The Piano Concerto No. 20 is written in a minor key (for Mozart, for the first time), and sounds almost like a concerto by a Romantic composer, whereas Concerto No. 21 is in a major-scale, light and cheerful.

After the first, fast movement (allegro maestosso), comes the calm Anadante movement, which is the famous movement of this concerto; the third movement is a light, humorous rondo.

Piano Concerto No. 21 was performed for the first time on March 12th, 1785, with the composer's father, Leopold Mozart, sitting in the concert hall, practically in tears, as he himself testifies in a letter to Mozart's sister. The 30 year-old Mozart, the child-prodigy Leopold nurtured from a very early age, did not fail. But the sand in Mozart's hour-glass only had six more years.