Mark Morris

Mark Morris, do you like Mozart? I didn’t like Mozart when I was younger. It all sounded the same to me. But then I discovered that every second of his music is just so gorgeous. I have done some things with Mozart before, nothing on this scale of course. I directed “La Nozze di Figaro” in Brussels a few years ago. I decided about a year ago to use these particular pieces. In the beginning I had several ideas – first I was going to use three different Cello concertos. Then I decided to make it all piano and I found two piano concertos that I love.

When I was playing them for people, however, I found myself saying before you listen to them listen to this first and I would play the slow movement from the double sonata. So finally I changed my choice to the two concertos on the outside and the sonata in the middle. Now the middle of the evening is the slow movement of the sonata which is one of Mozart’s greatest pieces I think.

What was it that really made you want to choreograph them? The combination of these three pieces is a particular challenge to me because of the change in tempo. Number 11, the F major concerto has a less heavy scale and it then goes into this beautiful minuet, ...