The two soloists on Mozart: Concerto for Two Pianos, the Piano Duo Sakamoto, speak of the great fascination that this work exerts: “It was a great pleasure for us to perform this unique concerto, so full of playfulness and musical moments of happiness, on two splendid Bösendorfer grand pianos in Vienna. We enjoyed the work’s musical dialogues very much — and not just the dialogue between the two pianos, but also the dialogue with the orchestra.”

The violin, which Mozart played masterfully and through which he served as the prince-archbishop’s concertmaster in Salzburg, was no less important than the piano in his life as a performing musician. It is therefore no coincidence that all five of Mozart’s violin concertos were composed during his time in Salzburg: the first in 1773 and the other four just two years later. Mozart composed two individual movements for violin and orchestra soon afterwards: an Adagio in E major, KV 261, and a Rondo in B flat major, KV 269. We may assume, although not with total security, that Mozart wrote them as alternative movements for his violin concertos in the same keys — KV 219 and KV 207 respectively.