“Coronation” Piano Concerto no. 26 in D major

Mozart may have written the Piano Concerto in D Major in February 1788 for a series of concerts the following summer at the Trattnerhof, a venue on the outskirts of Vienna, though this has not been confirmed. Mozart performed the concerto at the Dresden court on April 14, 1789, and again during the celebrations for Leopold II’s coronation as Holy Roman Emperor in Frankfurt in October 1790. Because of the latter performance, the work is often called the “Coronation” Concerto. In sections of the manuscript, Mozart did not bother to write out the left-­ hand piano part; since he played the work himself, he knew he would fill it in extemporaneously on stage. Modern performances therefore use left-­ hand parts written by others.